Trials of Love
by Snow Leopard Pasha
Summary: Juudai and Johan are happy together, and even plan to get married. Unfortunately, something is very wrong with Juudai! JxJ, others, Yaoi bxb , hinted Yuri gxg Don't like, don't read! This is my first publication, so please RxR
1. Chapter 1: Falling

Author's note: This story was borrowed from yaoiboylover55, who is gone now, his profile removed completely from the site. In a manner of speaking, you could say this is kinda a tribute to him, and he got to read it before he left the site.

If you ever read his version of this, you'll recognize it, but you'll also see how I changed it. The biggest change was that I added Yuugi and Kaiba to it, mostly because I can't imagine having Yu-Gi-Oh! without them, unless it's 5D's and has Yuusei, instead. The names are also all as close to the original, actual Japanese spellings as I can get them based on my Japanese classes and personal studies.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, obviously! Since I'm posting the whole story at once, I'm only saying this once!

Falling

The two young men were resting under a tree at Duel Academia, where all of the previous graduates were gathering for a tournament. Two years had passed since their own graduations, and similar tournaments were happening at the other four campuses, the North, East, South, and West campuses. Over the last two years, the two young men in question had grown so close that they were now boyfriends, hence their current positions, with the brown haired one's head in the teal haired one's lap while the teal haired stroked the other's hair affectionately. Since the tournament only required one duel each day, unless the duelist was on their way between campuses, they had plenty of time to spend relaxing.

It was a perfect summer's day, with a cloudless, blue sky and a bright, warm sun above them. The only sound was the soft rustling of the leaves dancing in the wind, and, in the distance, vague sounds like cheering. The couple had been like that for an hour now, but neither wanted to end the moment of serenity. Slowly, the brunette opened his brown eyes to look into the green eyes above him, and smiled. He could have nothing, yet still look into those soft eyes and feel like the luckiest man alive, a feeling that was shared by his boyfriend. The brunette was Yuuki Juudai, one of the most famous duelists in his generation—and one of the few who had been lucky enough to meet Mutou Yuugi and Kaiba Seto more than once. The teal haired one was Johan Anderson, known for being the only one who could handle the Gem Beasts, as well as being a duelist to rival Juudai.

"Johan?" the brown haired one asked softly.

"Yes, Juudai?" the teal haired one asked in return, the corners of his mouth turning up in a gentle smile.

"...You know I love you, right?" Juudai questioned almost nervously, looking serious.

That caused the teal haired man to chuckle as he said, "Yes, Juudai, as much as I love you." He leaned down to steal a kiss from his slightly younger boyfriend.

"Would you be willing to spend the rest of your life with me?" Juudai asked as he sat up and his hand disappeared into his pocket. A moment later, he pulled out a small box covered in light blue felt. Opening it, he revealed a gold ring with a small diamond that sparkled in the sun.

"Is this what I think it is?" Johan slowly questioned, eyes wide in surprise.

"I ask again," Juudai said, looking Johan in the eyes. "Would you be willing to spend the rest of your life with me?"

There was a momentary pause, then Johan gave Juudai an impish grin and pulled out a similar box with a similar ring in it, showing it to Juudai. "I'll accept gladly if you'll accept this ring and answer the same question for me. Would _you_ be willing to spend the rest of _your_ life with _me_?" Johan asked as he watched Juudai's eyes widen as well.

A moment later, they both looked up and smiled at each other, as both said, "Yes, I would spend the rest of my life with you." Juudai slid the ring onto Johan's ring finger, and it was a perfect fit, then Johan slid his onto Juudai's finger, with the same result.

"Thank you, Johan," Juudai said, leaning forward to kiss his new fiancé.

"No, thank _you_, Juudai. Does this mean you'll finally take me, like you've been saying you would for several months now?" Johan asked in mild amusement when the kiss was finished. He stood up and wiped the grass from his pants, then offered a hand to Juudai, who took it and let the other pull him up.

"No, not just yet," Juudai said, and smiled at Johan's frown. "I want our first time to be special. I want to do that on our wedding day, so let's hurry up and make the plans. I want to still be at Duel Academia with all our friends for the wedding, too, otherwise most of them won't be able to come."

"Okay. I'll continue to swear myself to celibacy until we both say 'I do' at the altar," Johan agreed, holding his right palm over his heart. After a pause, he pulled Juudai into a hug, burying his nose in the other's hair to breathe in his scent.

"Thanks. That means a lot to me, Johan," the younger of the two said, and the older gave a hum of acknowledgment.

They stayed like that for a while, until Juudai's stomach growled—which, in turn, made Johan laugh. "Come on, let's get something to eat before your stomach causes an earthquake," the teal haired one teased gently, and at the brunette's agreement, they headed to the main cafeteria, fingers entwined and both smiling happily.

"Where have _you two_ been?" Tenjouin Asuka asked as the two young men sat down with the rest of their friends. She had pale hair and hazel eyes.

In this case, because of the tournament, their 'friends' included their whole group over the three years they had been at Duel Academia. Saotome Rei was the only one of them who was still in attendance at the school, and Tyranno Kenzan and Fujiwara Yuusuke had gotten out the year before. All the rest—Asuka, Tenjouin Fubuki, Marufuji Shou, Jim 'Crocodile' Cook, Manjoume Jun, Austin O'Brien, Misawa Daichi, Ed Phoenix, Johan, and Juudai—had graduated three years ago. Then he realized there were also a few others in the group, and they were admittedly part of 'the group,' but hadn't really gone to school with them. Marufuji Ryou—also known as the Kaiser, or Hell Kaiser now that he dressed in all black—had graduated at the end of Juudai's first year there, so he'd been out of school for four years already, and Saiou Takuma and Mizuchi had never really _been_ students there. Other than Takuma for a short time...

"You finally popped Anderson's cherry didn't you?" Manjoume asked, eyeing them in a rather odd way. His spiky black hair was flyaway, and his eyes were almost black.

"I _so_ did not need to hear that..." Takuma commented, rubbing his head a bit like it hurt. While his long hair was mostly dark, there was a section at the top that was white, and his eyes were violet.

"That would explain why they're smiling, though," Fubuki grinned slyly. His hair was darker than Asuka's and cut to fall just past his shoulders, while his eyes were the same hazel as his two-year-younger sister's.

"It could have been a blow job," Ed put in thoughtfully. His hair was short and silver, his eyes bright blue—and he had a penchant for always wearing white suits.

"Ed!" Takuma cried as Mizuchi laughed. She had long, black hair and brown eyes.

"No, I did _not_ take Johan's virginity or give him a blow job—or vice versa," Juudai said in tired amusement, then stood up on the table. All eyes in the room went to him. "Everyone, I have an announcement to make!" he shouted, and everyone in the room went silent. "As most of you know or have guessed, Johan and I have been going out for awhile, now—for some reason, word reached here quickly," he said, pausing to look down at Rei, who blushed. There was resounding agreement, so he went on, "Well, as of now, he and I are engaged. Wish us luck!" The entire cafeteria erupted into applause, wolf whistles, and congratulations as Juudai sat back down next to Johan.

"That was rather over the top, even for you, Juudai!" Johan laughed as Juudai sat, but he still took his hand again.

"Congratulations!" All their friends said with grins at the two. Asuka went on, "I'm really happy for you," even as she hugged both of them.

"Thanks, Asuka," Johan grinned.

"Can we see the ring?" Misawa asked eagerly. He had short, dark hair and dark eyes, and had replaced his school jacket with a scientists' lab coat.

Johan chuckled and said, "_Rings_. We exchanged them." There, he reached over for Juudai's ring hand and put it down on the table, then placed his own hand next to it so all their friends could see their rings.

"Those must have cost a pretty penny," Shou said in awe, staring at the rings. His hair was still fluffy and nearly to his shoulders in pale blue, his eyes gray and covered by small glasses.

"Yeah. How did you guys afford them?" Jim asked, whistling at the rings. He was the spitting image of a cowboy, hat and all, but he only had one green eye—the other was covered by an eye-patch these days. His hair was dark and there was a crocodile named Karen in a sling on his back.

"My family's not exactly poor, you know," Johan answered. "My parents were more than happy to find I wanted an engagement ring. What about you, Juudai?"

"Well..." Juudai began, blushing a bit. "I guess I can't say my family's poor, but I have almost no contact with them, so I started doing odd jobs while I was traveling to make some extra money. It was _just_ enough for the ring."

"That's _so_ sweet," Rei giggled. "My fandom just got stronger!" Her hair was long and shiny black and her eyes were brown, and due to her continued enrollment at Duel Academia, she wore the Obelisk Blue girls' uniform.

"So have you guys decided on a date for the wedding yet?" Yuusuke asked, taking out his note book and writing things down as Kaiser and Fubuki watched him. His hair was dark and green-tinged, his eyes pale brown; Kaiser had dark blue hair and blue eyes, making him look very different from his younger brother, Shou.

"What's this about a wedding?" a new voice asked in some amusement, making everyone turn to look—and stare in shocked awe at the two men who now stood behind Johan and Juudai. Both were about thirty years old by their looks.

"Yuugi-san! Seto-san!" Juudai gasped, rising.

And it was Seto's blue eyes that went to Juudai's hand—and he asked, "You finally got enough money together?" His hair was medium brown and cut short, and he wore the white, sleeveless trench coat he always wore when he wasn't in a business meeting.

"Yeah," Juudai agreed blushing a bit as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It would have been easier if you'd taken my offer," Seto pointed out dryly.

"But _that_ would have felt like I was being given a hand-out," Juudai said in a rather plaintive voice. Most of the room was watching silently, seeing the two most famous duelists talking with Juudai on—apparently—friendly terms.

"I don't think so," Yuugi put in, looking amused. "Seto is a slave-driver, so it's a _good_ thing you didn't take him up on the offer. And he doesn't give handouts unless he owes the person in question a favor. Now...wedding? Are we invited? When is it?" His hair was as spiky as ever, with blond bangs and black hair that paled to red at the tips. It had been his habit for some time to dress in a sleeveless shirt and tight pants.

"Well, the sooner the better, because I can't wait any longer to lose my virginity to this stud," Johan said impishly as he indicated Juudai—and all the rest at the table had to laugh, even Seto and Yuugi (though, in Seto's case, it was just an amused snort).

"What are you two really famous duelists doing here, anyway?" O'Brien asked with a bit of a puzzled frown. His skin was brown, his hair in black, almost-dreadlocks, and his deep brown eyes were suspicious—as usual. No one could miss the very obvious assortment of weapons he carried with him as a trained mercenary.

"I'm the owner of Duel Academia," Seto said dryly. "Is there a law that says I can't come to my own school to watch a tournament?" That made most of the others blush a bit and murmur apologies.

"And me, I'm a participant, but when I was invited to join, I was in the area of West Academia, so I started there, went over to South, where I met with Seto, and from there, we headed here. I can't wait to duel you again, Juudai," Yuugi said with a grin at the younger male who still stood with them.

"Neither can I, and yes, you're invited to the wedding," Juudai agreed with a grin.

"Mind if I claim your match tomorrow, then?" Yuugi asked.

"I already did, when we met at breakfast this morning—he'd already dueled with Ed before we ate," Johan smirked at Yuugi, pulling Juudai down beside him to give him a deep kiss.

"Okay, guys, get a room or save it for your wedding night," Manjoume glared at the two, then pointedly looked elsewhere.

"You're just jealous," Juudai smirked, then pulled away from Johan and stood.

"Where're you going-saurus?" Kenzan asked curiously. His oddly golden eyes at times became slit-pupiled, and his dark hair was covered by a dinosaur-like bandana.

"To get something for us to eat," Juudai answered dryly, motioning at himself and Johan—and the rest realized they hadn't brought meals to the table with them.

He headed over to the lunch line while Seto and Yuugi both chose seats at their table, talking intently with the rest of the group. The conversation was cut off a few minutes later by a high-pitched scream that drew all eyes to the lunch line. They could see a bunch of students and former students crowding around something on the floor. Without looking, Johan somehow knew who it was and rushed over, pushing everyone out of the way. Sure enough, to his horror, he saw Juudai lying on the floor, unconscious and pale, a mess on and around him from the food he'd dropped when he fell.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

"Juudai, please wake up..." Johan murmured, watching Juudai's face worriedly as he sat beside him and held his hand. Periodically, he brought the hand up to his lips to give it a little kiss. They were in the school's infirmary, and their resident doctor, who was also one of the teachers and the head of the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm, was running tests to try to find out what was wrong. At least they'd made the infirmary bigger and given it a couple private rooms since Johan and Juudai had been in attendance there, so she could be in the main room to run the tests while Johan had time to just be with Juudai. Still, he was worried about what was going on, since Juudai had never indicated anything to him about an illness.

"For me, Juudai, you have to wake up for me," Johan added after a minute, tears filling his eyes. "If you take too long to wake up, they'll..." he told the unconscious man, the tears finally breaking free from their prison in silent, hot drops that scorched his cheeks. "Please, I can't live without you, you mean everything to me. We're going to get married, we _will_, and we'll live together, and adopt children if you want, but...I can't live without you, I _need_ you." He buried his head in Juudai's arm to hide the tears he now couldn't stop. "What's happening to you...?"

"Ayukawa-sensei said you've been here since we brought Juudai in," a slightly familiar voice said from the direction of the door. A short pause followed, then the man asked him gently, "How's he doing?"

"No change," Johan answered, sitting up and wiping his face quickly before looking up at the man—and he was surprised to see Yuugi there.

A sad smile came to Yuugi's eyes and he said, "That's actually a good thing, as hard as it is to hear it. But it's a pretty big puzzle, isn't it?"

"...I guess that's one way to put it," Johan answered wryly, looking down at Juudai again. "Why are you here, Yuugi-san?"

"I informed Ayukawa-sensei that this isn't the first time he's passed out like that...but last time, it just looked like his brain shut down for a moment. He woke up again a short time later—a couple minutes—and was back to normal, so I didn't think much of it. But this makes me think that was an early sign that something was wrong," Yuugi said with a sigh.

For a moment, Johan sat perfectly still, then stared up at Yuugi incredulously as he asked angrily, "Why didn't you do anything back then? People don't just pass out for no reason! How could you be so irresponsible with someone's _life_?"

"I've passed out for no reason at all," Yuugi answered quietly. "There was never anything wrong with me, but twice in my life, I've just randomly passed out and stayed out for a couple minutes, then woke up and was back to normal. I figured that was all that had happened to Juudai. For me, it was a moot point, so my own experience with a similar set of circumstances caused me to think it was nothing to worry about. That's all I can say."

Again, Johan had to sit still to process what he was being told, then he turned his eyes back to Juudai and said, "...As much as I hate to admit it, I can't really blame you for that, then..." Another silence followed, then he asked in a pained tone, "But why wouldn't he have _told_ me something was wrong if it's been going on for awhile?"

"He's a bit of an idiot when it comes to himself," Yuugi answered, a sad expression in his eyes as he stared at Juudai. "Even when something's wrong, he can't tell, and just puts it down to being overly tired, and in the case of him passing out that time with me, I figured that was the case, too—that was when he was doing work on the side to get the money for your engagement ring. But now, he's had some time to get caught up on his rest, so there shouldn't have been a reason like exhaustion for him to..."

At that, the teal haired man had to give a wry, little chuckle as he said, "Yeah, that actually sounds a lot like Juudai."

There was a long silence after that, and Johan thought Yuugi had left—until the older man commented, "You should go get some rest."

"I'm not leaving him," Johan said simply, never taking his eyes off Juudai.

"It won't help anyone, _least_ of all _him_, if you don't get some rest. I'll stay and watch over him so you can at least get a few hours of sleep," Yuugi answered logically.

"But—" the younger man began, looking up at Yuugi with a tortured expression in his eyes as he rose quickly.

"Johan Anderson!" Yuugi cut him off with a glare as he advanced on the younger man. "Sitting here and wearing yourself out _won't help him_. How do you think he'd feel if he woke up, just to find that _you_ were sick, too? And if you _want_ to be able to take care of him once we know what's wrong, how can you do that if _you're_ sick from not getting enough sleep?" There, his gaze became kinder as he rested a hand on the now-stunned Johan's shoulder. "I'm not telling you not to worry, and we won't leave him alone. Get some rest, and if his condition changes before you get back, I'll send someone to get you so you can be here. Anything else can wait while you keep your own strength up. Understand?"

Slowly, Johan nodded and sighed, then walked from the room just as slowly, his expression dazed. Just before he fully left the room, he turned back and saw that Yuugi was now sitting in the chair Johan had vacated. It seemed Yuugi had been telling the truth about not leaving Juudai alone, so he sighed and turned back to face the main room. At the computer in the corner, Ayukawa-sensei sat as she stared intently at the screen and occasionally typed on the keyboard or clicked the mouse. She had short, auburn hair and green-hazel eyes, and was wearing her doctor's coat at the moment.

"Have you found anything yet?" Johan asked her quietly, joining her at the screen.

She started, then looked up at him and gave him a little, strained smile. "So Yuugi-san got you to get out of there and rest. I'm still looking, but I recently found something odd that I can look into. Where it'll lead, I'm not sure, but it's more than I had earlier. Do you want something to help you sleep? I have one that only works for four or five hours, so it'll let you rest a bit without keeping you out so long you'll panic."

"...I guess I had better, or my worry will keep me up," Johan sighed.

The woman rose and went to a cupboard where an assortment of pills were kept, then found one bottle in particular and took a pill out. That, she handed to Johan, then grabbed a paper cup and filled it with water so she could give it to Johan as well. He took the pill and downed the water, then headed for his room in the Obelisk dorm, feeling a bit drowsy as he went. By the time he got back to his dorm room, he was ready to sleep, and almost didn't get into the room before passing out—so was surprised and grateful to find Kaiser catching his arm and helping him into bed. He was asleep even before his head hit the pillow, so didn't hear Kaiser leave.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Back in the infirmary, Ayukawa Emi watched Johan leave, then went to the door of Juudai's room and said to Yuugi, "Thank you for getting him out of here."

Yuugi looked up at her and said, "I know it would be bad for him to just sit here and not get any rest. Even _I_ know better when my lover's ill. Then again, my lover would find a good way of punishing me if I _didn't_ take care of myself while he was ill. And my best friend is the same way—told me simply that it doesn't matter if he's on his death bed, if the world's in danger, I'd better damned well go save the world, not sit with him, or he'll never forgive me. I didn't think hearing any of that would help Johan right now, though. Those kinds of concepts are too complicated for him when he hasn't heard such things from Juudai directly."

"Either way, what you said got him to go rest," she answered dryly. "Now, what about you? Don't _you_ need to rest, too?"

"I'll be fine for a few hours. Unlike the youngsters, it's not like I make a habit of staying up late or of exhausting myself, so to do it this once won't do me any harm," he told her dryly. "I won't break my word to Johan, or he'll never trust someone else with Juudai again, and that would be even worse—for them both."

At that, she had to sigh and admit with a little smile, "Yes, in his case, you have a point. I'll leave you here for awhile, then, but don't just try to stay awake all night, either. Catching a catnap won't hurt either you or Juudai. Since you're here, too, I'll tell both you and Johan what I find out." He nodded, so she went back to work.


	2. Chapter 2: Pain

Pain

The next morning

Johan was back in the infirmary before six in the morning, and Yuugi let him have the seat beside Juudai back while he went to get some rest, himself. In the end, he also didn't leave for very long, and had returned by ten, but rather than just sitting with the younger men, he watched Emi work, instead. Since she knew she wouldn't get rid of him, she got him to help her by having him fetch things she needed for her tests. Gladly, he did as she requested, since it kept him a little busy while they waited for word. He also took it upon himself to make sure they had food and drinks, all three of them.

Like the day before, Johan began talking to Juudai's unconscious form at various intervals throughout the day. It was approaching evening as he muttered with a sigh, but not really to Juudai directly, "The love of my life finally proposes to me only to wind up passing out soon after...This is just not fair..." He then rested his head on Juudai's arm—only to sit up sharply a moment later at the voice he heard.

"Wow, so I'm the love of your life," a tired, teasing voice said. And Johan couldn't help but smile as a few tears came to his eyes when he saw Juudai's warm, brown eyes looking up at him, the younger's lips curved up in a weak smile.

"Juudai, you're awake!" Johan cried, hugging his fiancé tightly in relief. Without either noticing, the cry brought Yuugi to the door of the room.

"Hey, not so tight! I still need to breathe!" the brunette laughed, hugging Johan in return. "So where am I?"

"This is the infirmary. It's been almost forty-eight hours since you passed out in the cafeteria," Yuugi answered from the door, making the other two look at him in surprise. He was leaning on the door jamb, his eyes showing relief. The older man then became thoughtful as he said, "Actually, now that I think about it, it's past supper, so it's been _more_ than forty-eight hours. Don't get up, yet."

"Why not?" Juudai asked curiously, then yawned widely.

With an amused look, Yuugi said, "First of all, because you're still tired. Being in an unconscious or comatose state _doesn't_ mean you've rested at all—in fact, it's the reverse that's true. You need some _real_, natural sleep. And second, Ayukawa-sensei doesn't want you to leave until she can figure out what made you pass out so suddenly—and stay that way for over two days. That can't be brushed off as mere exhaustion."

"Oh, Gods, no..." Ayukawa-sensei cried from the main room.

Yuugi turned around to look at her with a bit of a frown, asking, "What's the matter?"

After a minute of standing over the computer in a tense, hunched form, she joined Yuugi at the door and looked at Johan as she said, "I need to speak with you, Johan."

"Of course, Sensei," Johan agreed, a little puzzled. He looked back at Juudai and told him gently, "I'll be right back, okay?" When he got a small nod in reply, he leaned down to kiss Juudai's forehead before leaving the room—and was surprised to see Yuugi pull the door to the younger man's room shut as he also faced the Doctor.

"So...What's wrong, Ayukawa-sensei?" Johan asked nervously, seeing the tense, pained expression on her face.

"I just found out what's wrong with Juudai, and I'm not going to lie to you—it's not good," she told them quietly.

"So why's Yuugi-san here? I mean, no offense, but..." Johan asked, puzzled.

"Do you know that Yuugi-san is his mentor?" Emi asked of the younger man.

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain—" the teal haired man frowned.

"Johan, I'm the closest thing he has to a guardian—_legally_. _By law_, I have every right to be here to find out what's wrong with my charge," Yuugi said quietly. "The only reason Juudai agreed is because he almost got himself killed by the Pharaoh's Tomb-keepers in Egypt if I hadn't been there. I know a lot of people all over the world, so as long as he's under my care, they know they can't touch him—whether they like his presence or not."

"...Oh..." Johan said, staring.

"Yuugi-san, did Juudai ever tell you about Yubel?" Ayukawa-sensei asked the older one, eyes meeting his steadily.

"You mean the part about her being fused into him? Yes," Yuugi agreed. "I found out when he tried to use her power on me to make me think he was still there when he wasn't—thank all the Gods that power doesn't work on me after having had a second soul, myself."

At that, she nodded and said, "Well, you see, Yubel was supposed to protect Juudai by eliminating all who threatened him. Since then, not only has she threatened him personally, but there's no outside danger, so she accidentally got caught in a cycle of self-guilt and is trying to eliminate herself without realizing it. But because she and Juudai are fused together, if she tries to eliminate herself, she, by extension, has to eliminate _him_, too. If someone could talk with her and bring her out of it, there's a possibility, but as things stand, I understand that no one can talk with her but Juudai, himself, and he hasn't been able to for many months now. I heard that from Rei. That leaves no one to talk with her. So, in other words, I would say he has about six months left to live, maybe a little more. I'm sorry." Her pained expression was enough to convince both men that she was telling a very serious—and very real—truth.

Johan felt his knees going weak as he gasped out, "What? No...no, no, no! This can't be true, it can't, he's not dying, you're lying, you have to be..."

"...That can't..." Yuugi murmured, and Johan looked over to see the pain in his eyes. That was all he could handle, and Johan dropped to the floor on his knees as he wept, not bothering to hide his tears and his arms limp at his sides.

"I'm...truly sorry I have to give you news like that," Ayukawa-sensei sighed, then stepped out the infirmary door, letting it close behind her.

A moment later, a hand rested on Johan's shoulder and squeezed, making him look up to see that Yuugi was crying silent tears as well now. Reaching up, he covered the older man's hand with his own, squeezing it while they tried to calm down enough to face Juudai again. And more, what were they going to tell him, and how? More, how could two men who were both hurt by the news calm each other down, and why hadn't Juudai said he and Yuugi-san were so close? More, why didn't Juudai call him by a closer term than '-san' if they were close enough that Yuugi would cry for him?

"I think, for his sake, it would be best to tell Juudai the truth," Yuugi said some time later, after they had calmed a bit, and the tears were minimal.

"Can he handle it?" Johan asked quietly.

"As well as you. Maybe better. His scars run deeper, just as mine do. His reaction will actually be more composed as a result of the other things he's had to endure. And he knows as well as _I_ do that there are worse things than death." There was a pause, then another sigh as Yuugi said, "I wish Shadi was still alive..."

"...Shadi?" Johan had to ask.

"He was the holder of the Millennium Key. With it, he could walk into people's heads and meet with their other souls or re-write what was there to cause something to happen. His doing so helped me become aware of my other soul, and it helped me become aware of how precious friendship really could be, and the power of unity. If we had the Key, or if he was still alive, it would be possible to reach Yubel."

"Doesn't the Key still exist?"

"No. Well, it does, but it's in the center of the Earth, so it's not within reach."

"...This...just gets worse and worse...I want Juudai to be back, safe and healthy..."

"So do I..." Yuugi sighed, turning to face the door to Juudai's room. "Let's talk with him, now. No sense in waiting until we can't talk clearly again." Johan nodded and rose to face the door as well, so they both stepped back inside the room.

"Johan? Yuugi-san? What's the matter?" Juudai asked sleepily, worried about his fiancé and his guardian when he saw their expressions.

"Nothing, Love, it's nothing," Johan tried to say, wiping his eyes and looking away from the brunette—although, he knew the brunette could see right through him. But to the extent that he would guess a thing like that?

"I'm dying, aren't I?" Juudai asked as he gave the teal haired man a small, sad smile before looking over at Yuugi, who nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes. Ayukawa-sensei said you had about six months," Yuugi admit-ted to the younger man, keeping his eyes hidden under his bangs.

"How did you know?" Johan asked, slowly walking over to the bed to sit beside Juudai and take his hand.

"I heard crying, and when I saw you two now, I put two and two together and it came out to...a number larger than two," Juudai explained sleepily, causing both Johan and Yuugi to laugh in spite of themselves.

"Too tired to do math right now?" Yuugi asked in faint amusement.

"Yeah," Juudai agreed, yawning widely again.

"...I don't know what I'll do without you..." Johan said, burying his head in Juudai's chest as a few more tears escaped from him.

"You haven't lost me yet, and we still have a wedding to plan, so we'll be spending a lot of time together," the brunette answered, running his fingers through his fiancé's soft, teal hair.

"I'll leave you two alone and go tell the others," Yuugi put in right then, turning back to the door. He then paused and looked back at Johan. "You'd better be ready to go get some rest by the time I get back, Johan. If not, I'll throw you out." He then left.

When the door closed, Johan asked softly, "Is he really your legal guardian?"

"Yeah. My parents even agreed to sign me over to him, and he takes better care of me than _they_ ever did," Juudai answered, half asleep.

"Then why didn't you tell me, and why do you still call him 'Yuugi-san' if he's so close to you?"

"What _else_ can I call him? He's older than me, so I can't call him '-kun,' and he's definitely _not_ like a brother or parent to me. I'm not so close to him that I could just call him 'Yuugi,' and anyway, to me, that would be rude. And why I didn't tell you...um...Just because it didn't come up, I think..."

That made Johan chuckle and say, "Yeah, that sounds like you. Rest now."

"I'll...do..." Juudai murmured, slipping into sleep before he finished the sentence.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Mid-morning the next day

"I don't wanna go back! They'll all be thinking I'm fragile, but I'm not, and I don't like being in this stupid wheelchair! My legs work just fine! And I'm not even allowed to duel, what's the problem with dueling? I mean, it's not like I'll get hurt! This is so unfair! And you'd better wipe that stupid smirk off your face, or not even the Rainbow Dragon will be able to help you, and—hey, are you even _listening_ to me?" Juudai complained all the way to the Osiris Red dorm as Johan pushed his wheelchair with a smile—or rather, with a smirk—on his face.

"We're almost at the dorm, so you can get out of the chair then. You wouldn't be dueling, _anyway_, because almost no one is brave enough to challenge you. You _are_ fragile, but no one will treat you differently. And yes, I'm listening, obviously," Johan said in a dry tone, laughing at his fiancé.

"Fine, but I better not have to use this chair all the time!" the whiney young man said with a huff, crossing his arms. "I'm fine!"

"Don't be such a baby, Baby," Johan answered, giving Juudai a wink—which made the brunette let out a sigh.

"Leave the jokes to me," Juudai answered dryly as they got to the dorm. Now that Manjoume and Rei had moved out, Juudai had appropriated the section of the Osiris dorm the other young man had remade towards the end of first year, so it was a pretty big room. The rest of the dorm was empty, so it was a nice, private area.

From behind them, Yuugi said, "Remember what Ayukawa-sensei said, though. For now, you need a few days of rest, then you should be able to go back to your normal activities. The closer to the time of your pending...er...Well, as your 'illness' gets further along, you'll pass out more and more often, so if you want this to last as long as possible, you don't want to strain yourself. That's why she asked us to make sure your friends would take care of you in shifts for the next few days."

"I know, Yuugi-san, I know..." Juudai sighed tiredly. "I don't want to be reminded of that every time I do something!"

"So behave yourself until you've fully recovered," the two other men said together, making Juudai stare at them for a moment.

"...Great...Not _one_, but _two_ mother hens..." the youngest of them said, getting up and walking inside his dorm. Johan gave Yuugi a wave and followed Juudai inside as Yuugi folded the wheelchair and carried it back to the infirmary.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

After lunch the next day

"And now, I sacrifice my two Fluff Tokens to summon Elemental Hero Neos! Now, Neos, attack his life points direct—" Juudai was saying—before someone began pulling him away by his collar as said someone turned off his duel disk.

"Juudai, you were supposed to stay in bed for a few days! How did you even manage to sneak past Shou? He was supposed to be keeping an eye on you!" Johan glared, looking very angry.

"...I might have slipped some of my sleeping pills into his drink when he wasn't looking..." Juudai answered with a sigh, giving up his struggle and letting Johan pull him into their room in the Osiris Red dorm. Johan pulled the sheets down, still holding onto Juudai's collar, then picked the brunette up bridal-style and put him on the large bed. He then pulled the covers up to Juudai's chin and tucked him in securely before he could protest.

"Now, I want you to stay in this bed for the next hour. I'm leaving Ruby here, so if you sneak out, I'll be notified, andif _that_ doesn't work, I swear I'll tie you down. I also sent all the students messages telling them that if you challenge them, they have to contact me or Yuugi-san right away. Everyone knows what happened to you and that you're still recovering, so they'll comply with the request. In other words," Johan said, then lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned in to Juudai's ear. "You lost this duel."

Juudai's mouth dropped open in surprise, realizing he just might have met his match, but not giving up just yet. "You're not angry with me, are you?" Juudai asked, biting his bottom lip while his eyes went wide and glossy, thinking it might soften Johan up.

It had the opposite result, as Johan glared and almost yelled, "No, Juudai, I'm not angry, I'm _furious_! _Why_ would you _do_ that? You could have been hurt, or you could have d—" Johan choked on the last word, his eyes filling with tears. More softly, he added, "I'm not ready to lose you yet."

Juudai looked up at his fiancé guiltily as he thought to himself, _:__I never meant to cause him this much pain...:_ He then pulled Johan down onto the bed next to him and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you so much," the brunette said out loud, rubbing Johan's back, feeling the older's body shudder with suppressed emotion. "I'll try to be more careful, okay?"

"It's fine, I'm just...I'm not ready to let you die, and I may be worrying a little too much, because I know you can be reckless..." Johan murmured, relaxing there. "But please do try to be more careful..."

"Okay," Juudai agreed, seeing Ruby and Hane Kuriboh sitting on the desk across from the bed. They clearly felt the same way as Johan did, so resigned himself to it.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Eleven days later

It had been a week and a half since Johan had caught Juudai trying to duel during his recovery time. As they were walking in the direction of the spa after Juudai'd had a very satisfying duel with Yuugi, he suddenly felt weak and everything began spiraling around him—then went dark, even as he heard Johan calling his name. When he woke up, it was dark outside—by the light coming in from the window—and he was laying in an infirmary bed with Johan beside him, crying onto Juudai's limp arm. A sound from the door made him look to see Yuugi, who just nodded in Johan's direction before just backing out of the room and closing the door softly.

"...Johan?" Juudai asked softly.

The teal haired man sat up to look at Juudai sadly, then slowly shook his head. "I'm too weak. I'm sorry," Johan said softly, standing up.

"What are you talking about? You're not too weak!" Juudai cried, reaching up to catch his hand.

"I am," Johan answered. "I thought I'd...be able to...but I just can't deal with this. It hurts too much every time I see you like this, like my heart's being torn apart..." He turned to face the door, trying to pull his hand back from Juudai.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Juudai asked in pure confusion and sudden fear, his grip tightening on Johan's wrist.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going back to North Academia for the rest of the tournament. If I'd stayed there in the _first_ place, this never would have happened. I'm so sorry," Johan explained, then yanked his hand free of Juudai's grip and walked out the door.

"Johan! Wait! Come back!" Juudai cried, his voice pained.

"Johan!" Yuugi yelled, but Johan ignored him, too, breaking into a run as soon as he'd left the infirmary. A moment later, Yuugi was at the door to the room, and his eyes widened at Juudai's pained expression and the tears running down his cheeks. "Juudai, what just happened?" he asked quietly.

"He...He said he was too weak, so...he was going back to North Academia...We...He just...What am I...going to do...now...?" Juudai asked softly, even as Yuugi gasped and turned to run after Johan.

It was too late, he realized soon after, even as the ship leaving for the northern port pulled away from the dock. Since there was no way Yuugi could catch up and stop Johan at that point, he sighed in defeat and went back to Juudai. Still, he tried to send a message to Johan, and when he got no response, he contacted the rest of their many friends, telling them to try to contact Johan and get him to come back, but on their first tries, none of them got through.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Five days later

It had been five days since Johan had left, and Juudai's health had deteriorated despite everyone's best efforts to keep him in reasonable health. No one could reach Johan, not even by then, and Juudai knew that everyone's best efforts had failed, which just made him feel worse. He was dying, anyway, so he figured he may as well speed up the process. All he had to do was wait for evening, when he'd have some time alone to do what he felt he needed to, but it honestly didn't make it easier to do.

And the first thing he had to do was write a note.

_To whoever finds this letter,_

_If you are reading this then I have killed myself. Please do not let Johan see this, as that is my last request. I know seeing this will only cause him more pain. I cannot deal with the world anymore, and my life would have ended soon, anyway, so I really have nothing else to lose now that I have lost my love and my heart. Please know that I am deeply sorry for the hurt my actions will cause, but this is for the best. I leave my friendship to all my friends, and I leave my cards and other possessions to Johan, since he already owns my heart._

_Goodbye everyone,_

_Sincerely, Juudai_

The brunette placed the pen on the desk and took a moment to tape the note to the door before he grabbed a knife and placed it above his wrist. Now was the time when he had to ask himself if he could really do this, since it was scaring him silly to think about actually taking his own life. Nothing to lose or otherwise, it was hard, and he kept thinking of how his friends and Yuugi would react when they found him. Then again, it was possible that Seto would react worse than Yuugi...

That thought made him chuckle, and as he did, Juudai jabbed the knife into the vein on his wrist. Blood started to spurt out of his wrist as he cried out in pain, but continued to press until it was fully open. He then switched wrists and did the same to the other, the chuckle turning into a maniacal laugh as he slipped into unconsciousness...


	3. Chapter 3: Together Again

Together Again

Late the next day

"Wow, Johan, you have really lost your touch. What happened to your focus?" the other duelist asked of Johan, then just stared at the blank expression in the other's eyes for a moment. Finally, he sighed and said, "Dark Magician Girl, attack his life points directly and end this torture." With that, the duel was over, so the man said, "Since you obviously don't have the will for this anymore, it would be best if you dropped out of the tournament. Just a word of advice." He then walked away.

"Yeah, Anderson! Being down at the main campus sure has made you weak. It's sad. You're _way_ too easy to beat these days!" another duelist laughed, kicking dirt in the teal haired one's eyes before walking away in a different direction from the first.

That was pretty common, that the one he was dueling would give him a kind word to leave the tournament while observers would be cruel, since he'd arrived back at North Academia. Yes, it was sad, and he knew it, but he just couldn't keep his mind on what he was doing—all he could do was think about Juudai. The repeated messages he'd been getting from all his friends down there wasn't helping, and every time one came in, what little focus he'd had was shot. He'd even managed to walk off the side of the cliff near the campus, and it was only thanks to his quick thought for help from Sapphire Pegasus that he'd survived...but he'd spent two days in the infirmary all the same.

Right as he was about to cry from frustration, an announcement was put over the intercom, saying, "Johan Anderson, you have a visitor in the office. Please report to the office immediately. Johan Anderson, you have a visitor in the office."

"...A visitor?" Johan asked blankly, rubbing as much of the dirt from his eyes as he could, but not realizing how bad he looked. Since it was so rare for anyone to have a visitor, he found that there was a crowd outside the door, but when they realized he was there, they gave him disgusted smirks—and tried to keep him from getting to the door.

The jeering apparently drew the attention of said visitor, since the door opened—and Yuugi stepped out of the room, pushing the other duelists out of the way so he could get to Johan, who could only stare at him in shock. And to everyone's surprise, the older man eyed him up and down for a minute, then grabbed his arm and pulled him up. "Come on," he said, as much as dragging the teal haired man towards the stairs leading to the roof.

"But—" Johan began.

"No buts!" Yuugi glared at him, stopping and turning back to face the younger man. "Yes, it's hard to watch Juudai deteriorate, but do you have _any idea_ what your leaving _did_ to him?" There was a silence as Johan stared with wide, shocked eyes. "He tried to kill himself, as if his death wasn't coming fast enough as it was!" Yuugi as much as yelled, tears in his eyes. And suddenly everyone else looked rather ashamed of the way they'd been behaving, and Johan lost his gravity, falling to the hall floor on his knees, clearly shaken by the news.

"That can't...He can't..." Johan said in a stunned voice.

Yuugi paused for a moment, then said, "I know I told Headmaster Samejima that I wouldn't show you the note Juudai left for us, but I think you need to see it. Here." He dug a small, folded paper out of his pocket and handed it to Johan, who took it with shaking hands, even as Yuugi said, "If it hadn't been for Hane Kuriboh..."

Johan then quickly read the note, then read it again as he went pale and asked, "Is he...I mean, will he recover?"

"Maybe. If you're there," Yuugi answered.

"Hey, why does Yuugi-san have the note? Shouldn't his parents have it?" someone asked softly from in the crowd.

"I'm Juudai's legal guardian," Yuugi answered tiredly. "That's why I have the note—his parents don't actually care about him enough to be bothered with him, so they let me have guardianship when I asked for it." His eyes then went back to Johan and he said, "And he _needs_ you there. It may not be a lot of time, but at least it's _something_. You _need_ to come back to the main campus with me."

"...Okay..." Johan agreed quietly, slowly pushing himself up. "But how will going to the roof help?"

"Seto sent me here in a helicopter, and we're going back the same way," Yuugi answered. "This is an emergency, after all." He then grabbed Johan's wrist and pulled him up to the roof, where—sure enough—a Kaiba Corp. helicopter sat. They were on their way soon after.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

The next morning

"How did you get to look like that, anyway?" Seto asked of Johan.

Seto, Johan, and Yuugi walked to the main building from the Obelisk Blue boys' dorm, where Johan's room and the bulk of his possessions were. When Seto had seen him step off the helicopter looking—as he'd put it—like he'd been rolling around in a pigsty, he'd suggested they take a detour so the younger man could get cleaned up, or they'd never let him into the room to see Juudai. Johan had agreed, knowing it was a fact that Ayukawa-sensei would never let him track a bunch of dirt and germs into a sick patient's room.

"...My focus has been shot since I left here. The duelists up at North were...using my lack of skills as an excuse to torment me. Getting dirt kicked or thrown on me was one of the _nicest_ things they did..." Johan explained quietly.

"And you never filed any complaints?" Seto asked him with a glare. "Skills aside, such behavior is unacceptable."

"Yeah...but I felt like I deserved it...for being too weak to stay with Juudai," Johan answered quietly, looking down and shaking his head like it hurt.

"Johan, if you felt so badly about it, you should just have come back," Yuugi told him with a heavy sigh, eyes hidden by his bangs.

As the door to the infirmary slid open, Johan got up the courage to ask, "Exactly how did he...?"

"Johan!" Headmaster Samejima said from inside the room. Looking, Johan saw that Shou, Asuka, and Manjoume were also there at the moment, and that they sat outside one of the closed rooms. Rather, Headmaster Samejima had risen from his seat when he'd seen Johan step inside, and all the others were looking at him now.

Asuka was the one who answered Johan's question, saying with an accusatory glare, "He slit his own wrists, and would have bled to death if Hane Kuriboh hadn't come to find Manjoume and Yuugi-san, who can see the spirits. And if Pharaoh hadn't been laying down across his wrists when we got there, reducing the amount of blood that _could_ leave his body. You owe them Juudai's life."

"But...why did he do—?" Johan began, shaking his head as he struggled against tears and clenched his shaking hands.

"Why?" Shou burst out in anger. "His fiancé leaves him, and said fiancé has the gall to ask _why_ he would try to kill himself! Ha! Fine, I'll tell you _why_! It's because you left him!" Shou yelled, then suddenly rose and slammed into the teal haired one, pounding his fists on Johan's chest as tears streamed down his face.

Manjoume pulled Shou away from a completely stunned Johan, and Shou hugged the black haired one, burying his head in Manjoume's shirt. Over Shou's head, the taller young man asked Johan with a scowl, "Can you even _begin_ to imagine what it felt like to find him laying on the floor, surrounded by blood, the only thing keeping him alive being a cat that somehow knew it had to stay there until we arrived?"

A moment later, Shou got himself under control and turned back to stare at Johan with hate-filled eyes. "He loved you, probably still does, and you just left him! He was wounded, he wasn't going to have much longer with you, but you just _left him_! And now he isn't even fighting it, so the time he used to have has been cut back to only a little over two months! We can only hope he'll last longer, but when you left, you took his heart, soul, and spirit, and now he's going to die a lot sooner, and it's all your fault!"

Johan looked and felt crushed, his legs feeling like jelly as he dropped to the floor. "It's...my fault..." the teal haired repeated slowly, stunned as tears filled his eyes.

"It's okay, he'll be fine," Asuka tried to reassure the others, pulling Johan up. "But there's no doubt that he lost a lot of time with us by what you did, Johan."

Like a sudden epiphany, Johan realized he had to be with Juudai—it was the only thing that would give the brunette more time. "I need to see him," he said in a rough voice, going to the door and stepping inside.

Before he got more than a step into the room, a hand on his shoulder made him stop. "Put the ring back on if you plan on staying," Yuugi's voice said, then let Johan go.

Feeling shocked by the words, Johan hesitated there as the door slid shut. After a moment, he pulled the handkerchief he'd wrapped the ring in from his pocket and let it fall open. There was the ring, undamaged by all the rough treatment his tormentors had put him through, thank goodness for that. Carefully, he slipped it back onto his finger and moved over to sit next to the bed, taking one of Juudai's hands in his. The thick bandages around his wrists were glaringly obvious now, and tears ran down Johan's cheeks for a moment before he brushed them away.

"I'm so sorry, Juudai. I never should have left you..." he said with a sigh. "I _do_ love you, and I'll find the strength to be able to do this, for us to be able to stay together. I'll be strong for the both of us if I have to, we'll find a way through this...together. I need, and I want, to be with you forever." He then placed a soft kiss on Juudai's lips.

He felt the younger man's eyes twitch and pulled back, only to see the eyes he loved so much slowly open. "Johan?" Juudai asked groggily. "Is...that...really you?" Johan felt his heart breaking as he saw the hope and hurt in Juudai's eyes. It made him sick to see an expression like that in the eyes of the one he loved, and he almost had to leave.

_:__How could I do this to him?: _Johan thought to himself before leaning down and whispering to the younger, "Yes, it's me. I'm so sorry for leaving. I never should have done that to you, and I'll never do it again, believe me." Silent tears fell from his eyes.

"Shhh, it's okay. As long as you're here now, that's all that matters," Juudai said with a small smile, but there was still wariness and pain in his eyes. Not that Johan could blame him, but it still hurt to have Juudai look at him like that, and he deserved it.

"Yes, I'm here, and I'm never leaving you again," the teal haired man confirmed, and to punctuate his words, he placed another soft kiss on Juudai's lips.

"...Thank you," the brunette murmured as Johan ended the kiss and just hugged him tightly for a minute.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

One week later

Slowly, Johan opened his eyes to see his love lying next to him, a small smile on the younger's face as he slept. Juudai had been allowed to leave the hospital a few days ago, as long as there was someone around to watch him throughout the day. He could duel, but not against the really skilled duelists, and both Johan and Yuugi knew that fact, so wouldn't let anyone suggest dueling to him. Well, unless they knew the person would be an easy opponent for Juudai, but most of the 'easy' opponents were too afraid to duel him. Shou had wanted to be Juudai's caregiver, but Juudai would only accept Johan, with a bit of help from Yuugi, and that made Shou hate Johan even more.

Johan softly kissed the younger man's lips before getting up and taking a quick shower. When he was finished and dressed, he started cooking breakfast, wanting to give Juudai a romantic breakfast in bed. He made eggs, bacon, and toast, then found a tray for the plate. As he set the plate and cutlery down, he realized he was missing a drink, so decided on a tropical fruit drink and added a glass of that to the tray. With a grin, he thought that Juudai would probably like it. Since it was ready, he picked it up and carried it to the bedroom, opening the door with a smile.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bac—" Johan began, but stopped in shock as he saw Juudai holding a knife above his wrist and staring at Johan with a stunned expression on his face. "What the Hell do you think you're doing?" Johan asked with a glare, putting the tray on the desk quickly, then grabbing the knife from the brunette's hand.

"I woke up...and you weren't there...So I...I thought...you had left me again..." Juudai answered weakly, bottom lip trembling. He then began to cry.

Johan set the knife aside (where had the younger gotten it from?), then pulled the brunette against his chest to hug him tightly, rubbing his back soothingly as he said, "It's okay, I'm here, and I'll always be here. I told you, I'll never leave you again. I meant it."

"But you _did_ leave!" Juudai wept, continuing to cry for another hour before he finally fell asleep. Johan just held him for awhile, lips pressed to the top of the other's head. Really, he couldn't blame Juudai for reacting like that, could he? He'd broken Juudai's trust, and it was going to take time to get it back. Could he in the time they had left?

Finally, he gently shook the brunette awake and said, "Well, since the breakfast I made you has gotten cold, how about we go to the Obelisk cafeteria? Maybe the others will be there, too." He rose and found a change of clothes for the younger man.

"Thank you. That sounds good," Juudai agreed with a grin as he wiped his face clean and dressed quickly.

They leisurely made their way to the cafeteria, and on the way, Johan asked, "Could you do me a favor next time, Juudai?"

"Huh?" Juudai asked in surprise, looking up at him. "With what?"

"The next time you wake up and I'm not there, _look around_ for either me or a note before you assume I've left you, okay?" Johan asked, grasping Juudai's hand tightly. "I think that's fair, right?"

The brunette apparently thought about that for a minute before agreeing, "Okay."

"Thanks," the teal haired one answered gratefully. And that was when they got interrupted by Fubuki.

He stopped them and pulled them in the opposite direction from the cafeteria, and right to a small room with many measuring tapes and note pads of all shapes, colors, and sizes. "Okay, I know you just got out of the infirmary a few days ago, but we need to really finish organizing your wedding now. I was able to get you booked for next month—thank the Gods we've got a chapel here—so we need to do things like get the measurements to make your clothes with," he told them, pulling out a measuring tape to begin measuring Juudai's arms, both length and circumference around his bicep.

"Please let me go to the cafeteria! Johan can help you, but I'm hungry!" Juudai whined as Fubuki made two notes on a plain, white note pad.

"No. You can leave soon, so just stay still and it'll be over faster," Fubuki answered, about to measure the brunette's waist.

"I'll do that," Johan stated, grabbing the measuring tape and kneeling in front of Juudai to whip it around his waist. There, he read the number to the other man, who wrote it down.

"May as well get the legs and feet while you're there—inside of the leg to the bottom of the heel for the leg length, then around the upper thigh, and from the heel to the tip of the toe for the foot," Fubuki instructed Johan in mild amusement. Johan obeyed.

"Well, _this_ is a position we should be getting used to," Juudai smirked.

"Please leave the dirty talk for when you're married. I have to get these numbers back to Yuusuke soon," Fubuki said, tapping his foot impatiently, then writing down the second number Johan gave him. "Now, the width of the shoulders—from the outer edge of one to the outer edge of the other—and the shoulder to the waist."

Johan obeyed those orders as well, giving Fubuki the numbers, then handed the items back to the other man and said, "Okay, we're done." He took his fiancé's arm and said, "Come on, Juudai, let's get something to eat."

Johan was about to walk out with Juudai, but Fubuki stopped him by saying, "Sorry, Juudai is allowed to go, but _you_ still need to be measured." He held the tape measure out to Johan, who just stared in shock for a moment.

At that moment, Shou opened the door and said, "I'll look after him."

That made Johan sigh and give his fiancé a passionate kiss before saying, "Thanks, Shou. Juudai, you go to the cafeteria with Shou and I'll meet you there, okay?"

"Okay, see you soon," Juudai agreed, then left with Shou.

Once the two were away, Johan asked Fubuki—who was measuring him rather expertly—with a curious look, "You guys have been planning the wedding all along?"

"You bet. You said 'as soon as possible,' but then Juudai passed out, so we took over. The wedding's next month, like I said, and one of the last events that'll go on during the tournament—but some of us will probably stay here with you guys if you decide to stay until Juudai...er..." There, Fubuki paused, then said with false cheer, "So, anyway, we need your measurements to make your suits for the wedding. Unless one of you wants to wear a dress?" That, he asked rather suggestively.

At that, the teal haired one laughed and said, "I don't, and I don't think Juudai would, either, though he'd look really good in one. But for everyone's peace of mind, please just let us both wear suits. His shirt can be red, though, and mine can be purple."

"Now _that's_ a good idea," Fubuki grinned. "Thanks. We can really use that for some color-coordinating we need."

"Glad to be of assistance, considering it seems the wedding has been taken out of our hands completely..." Johan snickered.

"Oh, don't worry, it has, but that's partly Yuugi's doing, too," the other, somewhat older man told him in amusement.

"What?" Johan asked in surprise, and a knock on the door made them both look up at a somewhat amused and somewhat worried Yuugi.

"Something wrong?" Fubuki asked the older man.

"Yes. But first, how are the measurements coming?" Yuugi asked.

"Fine. I got Juudai's with Johan's help, and I just finished with Johan's while Shou took Juudai to the cafeteria to eat," Fubuki explained.

"Is it true that the wedding was taken out of our hands thanks to you, Yuugi-san?" Johan asked suddenly, sharply.

"You should be grateful I took over—with your friends' help—or you wouldn't be able to get married so soon, if at all," the older man returned dryly, crossing his arms—and the other two saw a bag of glass bottles in one of his hands.

"What makes you think you have that right?" Johan glared, and Fubuki burst out laughing, one hand over his mouth and the other around his chest.

And to make matters worse, Yuugi was struggling not to laugh as he asked, "Is it so wrong for a young man's legal guardian to plan his wedding to someone said guardian approves of? Correct me if I'm wrong, but parents or guardians usually _are_ the ones to take care of the bulk of the wedding plans and preparations."

"...And you can afford to _how_?" the teal haired man asked almost tiredly.

"I'll tell you a secret, but do me a favor and don't repeat it," Yuugi answered, then moved over to whisper in Johan's ear. "I'm married to Seto, and he likes Juudai—and you—as well, so he's funding most of this event for you two. Don't disappoint him."

At that, Johan pulled back to stare at Yuugi in shock, even as Ruby appeared on Johan's shoulder with a little '_rubii_' sound that made both Johan and Yuugi look at her. She looked amused, so they gave each other lop-sided grins before Johan sighed and said, "I guess I'd better go catch up to Juudai before he thinks I left him _again_." He then left the room quickly.

Fubuki remembered the bag right then, so asked, "What's with the bag, Yuugi-san?"

"My concern," Yuugi answered with a sigh, offering the bag to him. The younger man took the bag and began looking through it, seeing a bunch of open and empty-but-still-wet bottles of alcohol. There was everything from Vodka and Irish Cream to Whisky and Rye, even a wine bottle or two—and for the quantity, that was a puzzle.

"So...where did you get all this?" Fubuki asked in puzzlement.

"It was in Shou and Kaiser's room, but I don't think Shou was drinking it, based on when I saw him ten minutes or so ago," Yuugi answered. "So, there's two options. It was Kaiser drinking it, or someone else left this in there for some reason, which would mean one of your circle of friends."

That made the younger man stare. "Kaiser, drinking? _Any_ of my friends, drinking? That makes no sense at all..."

"What would happen if it was true, though?"

"Depends on the friend who was drinking. For Kaiser, it would be bad, though, because he has a heart condition, as well as the fact that he'd start hitting on anyone he found attractive. But the wrong person might kill him for it..."

"I see. Yes, that's a problem, then. We'd better find him," Yuugi sighed.


	4. Chapter 4: Broken

Broken

After Juudai's measurements

Juudai had been sitting at the cafeteria table with Shou for about ten minutes before he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his chest, fairly pinning his arms down, and soft lips at his neck—lips that weren't Johan's. The voice he heard shocked him into complete stillness for a moment as the person behind him asked in a slurred way, "Hey, hottie, wanna—hic—come back to my...uuuuh...room! That'sh it! My _room..._for shome fun? It'll be really—hic—uh...fun!"

"Kaiser?" Juudai gasped, spinning around to face him—and almost gagging on the stench of alcohol on his breath. "_What have_ you been _drinking_?" the brunette asked in alarm, and felt Kaiser place a finger on his lips.

"Shhh, Baby, don't...hic—talk," Kaiser answered, then grabbed Juudai and kissed him forcefully, one arm locking Juudai's down as the other gripped his hair to hold his head right where the older man—apparently—wanted it. Other than Shou and someone who was sleeping at another table, no one was there, and apparently, Shou wasn't eager to stop his brother.

And at that moment, Johan walked into the cafeteria. "What are you _doing_?" the teal haired one almost shouted at Juudai and Kaiser, glaring at them.

"Stop!" Juudai cried, struggling to break free when the older man pulled away from him to look at Johan.

"Come on—Dude—it'sh a party, shee?" Kaiser smirked at Johan before kissing Juudai again, holding him even tighter so he couldn't escape. Juudai felt tears escape his eyes as he saw Johan run away while he was unable to do anything, thanks to his currently drunk...friend?

And finally, Shou decided to do something. "Nii-san, you can let go of him now," he informed his older brother, pulling on Kaiser's arms.

"Shou!" Kaiser blinked in surprise, looking up at his younger brother. He let go of Juudai to grab Shou and plant a kiss full on his lips, much the way he'd done with the brunette a moment before, then asked, "Who'sh a good...wittle bwother? You're—hic—a good wittle bwother. You...can come...too—hic!"

A strangled cry came from the cafeteria doorway, where a glaring Manjoume stood, but the black haired one just spat, "Nice show," and fled before anyone could answer.

"Sshhou...Let'sh play...in our room—hic!" Kaiser repeated, his attention back on his brother as he tried to kiss him again.

"Um, no," Shou told the older dryly, covering the older's mouth with his hand. "And no, licking my palm won't change my mind. Nii-san, go to your room—by yourself—and have a rest, okay? I'll play with you after that," Shou said, fairly pushing his brother out the door.

"O—hic—kay," Kaiser agreed, stumbling away.

As Shou sat down again, Juudai asked tearfully, "Why didn't you stop him sooner?"

"_You_ saw how strong he was," Shou answered dryly. "That's why he doesn't get drunk as a rule...He starts acting weird when he does—I mean, he didn't just kiss you, he kissed _me_ with tongue, too. Not that he's bad at it, but he stops caring about anything beyond how attractive the person is. I guess you could call it a warped kind of compliment, and he's usually too strong to stop without playing the right word game."

"Oh..." Juudai murmured, staring down at his hands. "But now Johan will..."

Shou saw how sad his friend looked and sighed. "I'm sorry I couldn't really stop him sooner. That was really bad timing, I guess. You should probably go after Johan now."

"...Yeah," Juudai agreed, rising and leaving the room.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Johan ran back to his room in the Obelisk Blue dorm, slamming and locking the door, then throwing himself on the bed to cry. _:__Why, Juudai? Why did you do it?:_ he thought as he wept.

A while later, a soft knock sounded on the door. "Johan? Can you please let me in?" Juudai asked quietly from the other side of the door.

"You have your own key, open it yourself!" Johan growled, then buried his head in a pillow. There was a soft _click_,and the door slowly opened to reveal a very sad Juudai. "What do _you_ want?" Johan asked, his voice dripping with acid, despite the brunette's expression of pain.

"I came to talk to you," Juudai answered, sitting on the edge of the bed. "It wasn't what you—"

"Not what I think? Seriously, Juudai, you need better excuses!" Johan yelled at the brunette—and threw a nearby pillow at him.

"I _didn't_ kiss _him_, _he_ kissed _me_, _and_ he was drunk—he even kissed _Shou_, tongue and all, after you left!" Juudai cried, dodging the pillow and rising to put a bit of space between the two of them.

"Why didn't you try to stop him, then?" Johan spat, not looking at Juudai.

"I _couldn't_, he was too strong, and I _did_ try to tell him to stop in the one chance I had to do so!" Juudai glared, starting to get angry.

"Oh, sure, of course," Johan returned sarcastically.

"I don't even know why I have to explain myself!" Juudai cried, his voice starting to get louder. "After all you've put me through, you'd think you could give me the benefit of the doubt, and you could try asking Shou about it, too!"

"All I put you through? I'm pretty sure I never kissed anyone else since I've been with you," Johan stared, rising and facing the brunette angrily. "And tell me how I'm supposed to ask someone who currently hates me about anything!"

"He'd answer that! And as to what you put me through, you're right that you never kissed anyone else, but who was it that walked out on me when I needed them the most, huh? Oh, wait, it was _you_!" Juudai shouted, now really angry and frustrated.

"Well, _excuse me_ if I find it hard to see my fiancé suffering!" Johan shouted with wild hand movements.

"Oh, well, you don't have to worry anymore, because I'm no longer your fiancé! As of now, we're through!" Juudai shouted in return, pulling the ring off his finger in a fit of rage and throwing it at Johan. He then left, a stunned Johan standing in the room alone as he stared at the ring that now sat on the floor at his feet.

Slowly, he knelt down and picked it up, tears streaming down his cheeks as he asked himself, "What have I done...?"

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Yuugi was crossing the space between Ra Yellow dorm and Osiris Red dorm, still looking for Kaiser, when he saw Juudai heading for the Osiris dorm. And Juudai had an expression of mixed anger and pain on his face, right down to tears that could have come from either or both emotions. But that left him wondering what had caused it in such a short period of time, so he decided to abandon the search for Kaiser temporarily in favor of finding out what was wrong with the usually cheerful Juudai. The younger man obviously wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings, so Yuugi ran after him, and caught his wrist to pull him to a stop.

"What's wrong, Juudai?" Yuugi asked quietly.

A moment later, the brunette faced him—and hugged him tightly, head hidden in his shoulder as he wept. All the older man could do was hold him until he'd calmed down, but now he was _really_ worried about what had happened. In a roundabout way, Yuugi was becoming more and more glad that he had convinced Seto to let him come to the main campus to see Juudai. For as much pain as the younger was suffering—and, by extension, that Johan was suffering—they needed someone there to support them and give them a smack when they were being idiots. But this seemed different, somehow, broken in a way it hadn't last time...

"Why wouldn't he _listen_ to me?" Juudai finally asked in a broken voice.

"Who do you mean?" Yuugi asked with a little frown.

"Johan!" Juudai cried, and Yuugi's eyes widened.

"I think you'd better tell me what happened, from the beginning," the older said in a quiet, serious tone that Juudai knew meant he couldn't get out of answering.

"I was with Shou in the cafeteria and Kaiser came in, and he was drunk! He kissed me, and Johan walked in right then, but then he ran away. And Shou tried to get Kaiser to stop, only for Kaiser to kiss _him_, _too_, tongue and all, and Manjoume saw _that_ and ran off in a fit, too! Then I went to Johan to tell him what happened, and he wouldn't listen, so I—" There, Juudai paused and pulled back from his guardian.

"You what?" Yuugi asked, a sense of dread falling over him. When Juudai held his hands up, revealing both to be ring-less, the dread spiked. "Where's your ring?"

"I...was angry...I still am, I'm furious, but...I threw it at him and said...we weren't engaged anymore," the brunette answered quietly, bursting into tears again.

After a stunned silence, Yuugi said, "Juudai, you need to go back and talk to him one more time. Please. Even if it's not right away, you need to."

"No!" the younger man yelled. He then went on more softly, "He wouldn't listen to me before, so he won't now! There's no point in trying to talk to him..." He was still in tears as he said that, and Yuugi knew how stubborn the younger could be, so all he could do was sigh.

"I'll walk you back to your dorm, then. And I fully intend on calling someone to take care of you while I'm talking with Kaiser and Johan. Any requests?" Yuugi asked, putting his arm around Juudai's shoulders to lead his distraught charge to his Osiris room.

"I don't need someone to take care of me..." Juudai said quietly through his tears.

"After what happened the _last_ time you and Johan were parted, you expect me to believe that?" Yuugi asked. "I'm responsible for your well-being, and leaving you alone right now would be irresponsible indeed. I _know_ what you're like, and Ayukawa-sensei sees enough of you as it is, without adding a second suicide attempt to it."

"...Not one of my friends," Juudai answered after a pause.

"Seto, then?" Yuugi offered.

"Wouldn't...he mind that? I mean, he's so busy..." Juudai murmured, tears calming a bit as they neared the dorm.

"Juudai, he _likes_ you, much the way he likes Mokuba. If you need him there, he won't mind, and he can do his work _anywhere_," the older man said dryly.

"...Okay, I guess he's the best one, then..." Juudai slowly agreed.

They went inside and Yuugi said, "Go have a hot bath—Manjoume put a spa in here when he remodeled it, didn't he?"

"Yeah...I guess that's a good idea," Juudai agreed, taking a step in that direction. A moment later, he paused and asked, "Will you still be here when I get out?"

"I don't know, but if I'm not, Seto will be. And once I've spoken with the people I need to, I'll be back, so probably in time for supper," Yuugi answered. "But I have _no_ intention of leaving these grounds while you're still in distress, so I'll always be nearby if you want to call me up to talk or whatever."

Slowly, Juudai nodded, then headed for the spa again. Once he was out of sight, the older man sighed and pulled out his cell phone, putting in Seto's private number. It was answered on the second ring. "What's the matter, Yuugi?" Seto asked.

"I need you to come stay with Juudai while I'm trying to figure out how to undo a drunken idiot's actions," Yuugi told his husband.

"...Excuse me?" Seto asked, sounding rather puzzled.

"In short, Kaiser got drunk, and when he gets drunk, he hits on anyone who looks attractive to him—which apparently includes Juudai and Shou. And Johan saw him kiss Juudai, so now they're fighting—and it's bad enough that Juudai threw the ring at Johan and broke off their engagement for the time being. Verbally, anyway," he explained to the other man, sitting down on the couch in the main room. "Right now, Juudai's in the spa in the Osiris dorm, and I have to go talk with the others, from Johan and Kaiser to all the wedding planners."

"Are we still going ahead with the plans?"

"Yes. If we can get them back together before the set date, we'll be fine, and we can't really reschedule it without running into—other—problems."

"True. Fine, as soon as I'm done here, I'll head over," Seto informed his husband.

"Thanks. See you soon, then," Yuugi agreed, hanging up. He then settled himself in to wait until Seto got there.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Seto arrived almost two hours later, saying to Yuugi, "I would have come sooner, but some idiot refused to listen to Mokuba, and half the Kaiba Corp. building went up in flames as a result. The only power they have right now is from the generators, and the fire fighters can't get in, so I had to chart them a path out. Not fun, but at least all the survivors are out of the building safely now."

"Wow, that sounds like a problem all right," Yuugi answered, giving him a quick hug. "The fact that you're still here means Mokuba's safe, I take it?"

"Yeah. Injured, but safe. He told me to stay here or he'd kill me himself, like he _just knows_ something's going on here," Seto told the smaller man dryly in amusement.

With a chuckle, the other man turned to head for the door—and stopped when he saw Juudai standing at the end of the hall in a t-shirt and shorts. "How are you feeling, Juudai? Better, I hope?"

"...A little," Juudai answered almost reluctantly. Yuugi gave him a hug.

"Yuugi, you'd better head out shortly. Like I said, I'll watch over Juudai," Seto told the other man dryly.

"That's right," Yuugi agreed, standing back a bit from Juudai, hands still gripping the younger man's shoulders. "See, I told you Seto wouldn't mind staying with you."

"I guess so. Thanks, Yuugi-san, Seto-san," Juudai agreed quietly.

Giving Juudai one more, quick hug, Yuugi headed out to find the people he needed to talk with, leaving Seto and Juudai alone. The two traded looks for a few minutes, then Seto said, "Sit down. I'll make some tea for us to drink. How much you want to talk about is up to you, but you should try to work a bit of your feelings out, regardless. While I'm in the kitchen, I'm going to make all the sharp objects in the area disappear."

That made Juudai blush a bit and nod as he carefully sat down and said, "Thanks."

A few minutes later, Seto brought a tea kettle and two cups into the room, and set the tray they were on down on the coffee table. He poured both cups and offered one to Juudai, then took the other and sat across from the younger man. For several minutes, there was silence, even as Seto pulled out his laptop and worked on some of his work and Juudai sorted through his cards. But the silence was interrupted when Juudai saw Ruby Carbuncle there, and she said a little, pleading '_rubii_' to him.

"Go away, Ruby!" Juudai glared at her, and Seto looked up from his own work.

She made a little, pained sound and vanished, so Seto said, "You shouldn't be so mean to the spirit when she had nothing to do with Johan's actions."

"But she probably only came because Johan _asked_ her to," Juudai spat bitterly.

"I think it's more likely she came because she's worried about you," Seto answered. "Spirits are like that. It isn't just their _own_ human they worry about, they _also_ worry about the people close to their own human. And the Gem Beasts _obviously_ like you, just like Hane Kuriboh likes Johan."

"Like _you'd_ know," Juudai scowled.

"Kisara will shield Yuugi _without_ me asking her to, and Mahad and Mana will save _me_ from a fall _without_ Yuugi asking them to," Seto returned. "They know how important our human bonds are, and they'll try to protect those bonds, not just the bonds they have with their own human. Don't assume Ruby came because she was _asked_ to—she may well have come to make sure you weren't trying to kill yourself again."

"...Oh..." Juudai murmured, then sighed. "I just...can't face anyone I associate with him, like Ruby...I just feel like...I'm going to cry every time...that's why I didn't want one of my friends to come here, because any of them would remind me of..."

A long silence followed that, while Juudai just stared down at the cards in his hand. It went on so long that he almost thought Seto had gone back to work—until the older man sighed and said, "Yuugi and I didn't always get along. We spent over three years in denial of how we felt about one another. And in the process, we caused each other a lot of pain. In particular, I caused him a lot of pain, though in my case, that was partly because I didn't _know how_ to determine that I cared about someone, let alone to _show_ I did. But when I realized it, I thought there was no way he could return the feeling. The result was that I nearly killed him. Right now, it seems like you and Johan are effectively 'afraid' of what's coming in the future, and are trying to hide from those realities, and the result is causing you both a lot of pain."

"I'm not 'hiding' from anything! I know I'm going to die, and I want...I wanted...to spend what little time I had left with him, but now..." Juudai burst out, tears in his eyes.

"Don't change the words," Seto said shrewdly.

"What?" Juudai blinked.

"You _still want_ to spend that time with him, don't you? It's your own, personal feeling you have, so you shouldn't try to put it in past tense. Whether you _can_ or not remains to be seen, but fact remains that you currently _want_ that time with him. You see, you _are_ hiding from something."

"...You and Yuugi-san are...annoying..."

"Do you still love him, despite how angry the two of you are right now?"

"...Well, yes, but..."

"Then it isn't something you should try to hide from. Simple."

"For you, maybe...But thanks anyway, Seto-san."

*****Juudai and Johan*****

While Seto and Juudai were talking, Yuugi found his way to Shou and Kaiser's room in Obelisk Blue—and opened the door to find Kaiser pinning Fubuki down while they were most of the way through the process of making love. He quickly closed the door with a sigh and went to Johan's room, where he heard crying from inside the room. A quick test of the door showed that it was open, so he stepped inside, taking a quick look around the room. A pillow lay on the floor near the wall and Johan lay on his belly on the bed, one hand dangling over the side, his fingertips gently brushing a ring that lay on the floor—with a hand that still bore a ring.

"Johan, you should talk with Juudai," Yuugi told him simply, moving closer to him.

The teal haired man just gave his head a bit of a shake as he said, "He'll just walk away...avoid me...I suppose I deserve it..."

"Thinking that way won't help matters, you know," Yuugi told him. "And yes, I know how stubborn he is, but if _you_ make the first move, he can't just stay angry with you for the rest of your respective lives."

"Don't count on that..." Johan snorted, shaking his head. "I don't even know if I can believe him about Kaiser..."

"You mean Kaiser being drunk?" Yuugi asked, and Johan sort-of nodded. "You can. Remember the bag I had with me earlier?" Again, there was an almost-nod, and Johan tilted his head a bit to look at Yuugi through one eye. "I went to the Marufuji room to find them to see how their respective wedding plans were going—and found almost two dozen bottles of alcohol there. They were all still wet, but empty, so it was recent. And Fubuki told me what Kaiser's like when he's drunk. Right now, in fact, Kaiser has Fubuki pinned down in his room. Want to see for yourself?"

And Johan sat up with wide eyes, saying, "Oh, my God...Juudai will never forgive me for that! Yuugi, kill me now!"

"How will _that_ help?" Yuugi asked critically, and Johan collapsed back onto his bed.

"...He really won't forgive me for blaming him..." Johan murmured, a new round of tears starting up, and Yuugi noticed that his dangling hand instinctively closed around the ring on the floor, holding it tightly.

"You still love him, don't you?" the older man asked quietly.

"Yes, yes, yes! As much as ever, I do! I just..." the younger man cried, then drifted off for a moment. "I could have given him the benefit of the doubt, but I didn't, and I know he'll just avoid me now, since he's so angry...and he has the right to be..."

"Fine," Yuugi sighed. "That means we need a plan to get you two back together. I'll talk with the other wedding planners to find out if anyone has any ideas. Just don't do anything stupid until then, all right?"

"...Why are you trying so hard...?"

"Because you're both special, and I don't like seeing you in so much pain when you really would be happy together."

"That's it?" Johan asked incredulously.

"That's it," Yuugi agreed, then headed out to find the other wedding organizers.


	5. Chapter 5: Twins

Twins

The next afternoon

Yuugi, Asuka, Fubuki, Ed, Jim, Rei, Shou, Manjoume, Kenzan, O'Brien, Takuma, Mizuchi, Yuusuke, Misawa, and Kaiser (with a serious hangover) were sitting in Asuka and Mizuchi's room with their heads together. They had to figure out a way to get the two stars of the school back together before their wedding date, and that was only a month away. With the severity of what Yuugi had just finished filling them in on with Juudai and Johan's states of mind, they were honestly worried.

"Well, thanks to Kaiser," Fubuki began, giving the other an evil glare. "We need to get Juudai and Johan back together somehow, since neither seems to be able to do it themselves. Any ideas?"

"We could lock them up in a closet to force them to make up, and we can put a video camera in there so we can see them make out," Rei said, looking hopefully at Fubuki—and missing Yuugi's glare in the process. Fubuki, however, didn't.

"Like the first part, but please keep your creepy, stalker-ish, fan-girl mind out of it," Fubuki told the younger girl dryly.

"That wouldn't work, anyway," Asuka commented, biting on her thumb nail in worry.

"Why not?" her brother asked with a disappointed look.

"She knows the same thing _I_ do," Yuugi said, making them look at him in surprise. "In their current states of mind, they can't face each other—the most we'd get out of something like that would be more fighting."

"I think I agree with that," O'Brien nodded. "We need something a little less crude."

"...There aren't a lot of ideas like that when they're avoiding each other like the plague," Shou sighed, looking sad and guilty.

"What's with you, Shou?" Manjoume asked with a faint glare.

"I kinda...left the bottles there...that's part of how Nii-san got drunk..." Shou admitted quietly, staring at his hands.

"He still _chose_ to drink them," Yuusuke pointed out dryly. "At least, from what he remembers, they weren't full..."

"I was still an idiot for drinking them..." Kaiser muttered, his eyes closed and his expression pained. "I did some...really awful things..."

"So who drank the rest-saurus?" Kenzan asked dryly.

"I don't think we wanna know, mate," Jim chuckled.

"Haven't we gotten somewhat sidetracked from the actual point of this discussion?" Mizuchi asked dryly.

"I have an idea that just might work," Ed said, making the others look at him in surprise. "Well, no, I shouldn't say it's an 'idea.' More like a blueprint."

"So what is it?" Misawa finally asked when Ed didn't continue on his own.

"Takuma, do you remember those twins that you really, really hated?" Ed asked of his former manager.

"...You mean to call them in to ask them for help?" Takuma asked in surprise, then grinned. "And they just may have some ideas we could never think of. I think that's a good start, so let's contact them."

"The twins?" Yuugi asked.

"The Tanner Twins. I think you've met them, too," Ed told the older man.

"So I have," Yuugi agreed with a grin. "Yes, please contact them. In the mean time, we can continue with the wedding plans." With that, everyone broke up to go back to their required tasks, but as Fubuki was about to go, Yuugi stopped him with a hand on his arm and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"About what?" Fubuki asked darkly.

"What Kaiser did to you," the older man answered.

"What do _you_ know about it?" the younger snapped at him.

"I saw. It was too far along to stop, but I thought I should give you fair chance to have him punished, drunk or not when he did it," Yuugi explained.

"...That's not..." Fubuki began, slumping. "I mean...I guess it was rape, in a way, but that's not what hurts most. That, I could live with...it's the way he feels about it that..." He paused for a moment, then looked up at the older man pleadingly and said, "I wanted it to _mean_ something to him, not for him to think it was a 'mistake'!"

"Shouldn't you _tell_ him that, then?" Yuugi asked, gripping his shoulder. "He's not trying to avoid you, unlike Johan and Juudai, so you _can_ still talk with him, and I think you _need_ to, _before_ both of you get _even more_ hurt."

"...I guess...but not right now...I need time to think, first," Fubuki sighed, so Yuugi let him go, knowing the words were fair and honest.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

The next evening

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Fubuki asked, staring at the boat that was pulling up to the dock where the whole group waited.

"Trust me, these guys are not only skilled duelists, but they're very insightful," Ed answered, but there was a weird look on his face.

"I'm guessing there's a 'but' coming," Asuka commented shrewdly, standing with her arms crossed.

And Ed sighed as he admitted, "They have a few quirks."

"Useful quirks," Yuugi chuckled.

"What do you mean by 'quirks'?" Shou asked curiously.

"Well..." Ed began, but was interrupted by a glad cry.

"Ed! How've you been? I was, like, so excited when I got your call, the both of us were! Well, Will was as excited as he _can_ be, but I couldn't stay still! I was, like, texting all my friends to tell them!" a young woman with long, blond hair and sky-blue eyes called as she trotted over to them from the gangplank leading off the ship—and hugged Ed. She looked about a year younger than Ed and dressed in a rainbow of colors, with a base color of yellow. It was clear that they were actually quite good friends.

"Hey, Sandy. Glad you could come," Ed answered a little uncomfortably.

"Well _this_ is a surprise. I come here to supposedly 'help' _two_ people, but when I get here, I see—oh, hi, Yuugi-san! Getting on with what I was saying, I see a blue haired elf; a girl who almost belongs in pre-school; a friggin' dinosaur; a guy with a major guilt complex; a mercenary kid; a woman who thinks she's shit hot; a guy who thinks he's a vampire; some cowboy with a croc fetish; an Einstein wannabe; a lost prophet; a priestess who thinks she has no home; a guy who just needs black make-up to be Goth; an obvious idiot; and an albino who can't say his true feelings. I count more than two," a young man with black hair to his shoulders and slate-gray eyes said with a sigh. He was the same age as the girl and had what looked like a small, black cloud following him, and his clothing of choice was a rainbow of colors, but all in dark shades and with a dark gray base. After a pause, he then snorted and said, "My God, you guys are totally dysfunctional! How have you guys managed to live _this_ long?"

"Will, it's good to see you again," Ed said with a wry expression, holding out his hand to the other young man.

Will just looked at it for a moment, then turned to the other people standing there. "So which two is it that are having relationship issues? The Goth and the elf? The cowboy and the dinosaur? The vampire and the idiot? The pre-schooler and the bitch?"

"I'm not a bitch and I'm not dating Rei!" Asuka gasped in shock.

"Of course, honey, you just keep telling yourself that," Will said with mock sympathy.

"As I was saying," Ed cut in quickly before Asuka could retaliate, his hand dropping. "Will and Sandy have some quirks. Will is all doom-and-gloom and Sandy is all sunshine-and-rainbows," he said with a small smile as everyone looked at him.

"They're supposed to be twins, right? They don't _look_ like twins..." Misawa said.

"They're fraternal twins—that is, two separate eggs were fertilized at the same time, so they look completely different," Yuugi said. "Each looks like a different parent, in simplest terms. And the light/dark theme seems to work for them, too."

"Well, it goes deeper that that surface stuff," Sandy said.

"I use a dark deck and Sandy uses light, and we both have powers. I can read minds," Will said, looking at Asuka accusingly.

"And I can see different versions of the future," Sandy added. She then quickly said, "'Merc kid,' take a step to your left." Just as O'Brien stepped aside, some bird shit fell where he had been standing, making him blink at her in surprise.

"Wow, that's freaky," Fubuki said with wide eyes, stunned.

"Just wait till you see us duel—and no, Asuka, Rei doesn't know of your feelings for her. Oh, wait, she does now. Sort the rest out yourselves—and that goes for _all_ the couples I mentioned before. Unless one of them is the couple I was supposed to help?" Will asked as he turned to Ed for confirmation.

"No, the two you need to help aren't standing here right now—the way they are right now, it's impossible to get them both in the same place at the same time," Ed sighed. "We'll introduce you later, but their names are Johan Anderson and Yuuki Juudai."

"Fine. Can someone please escort me to my lodgings? And bring my bags with you okay?" he 'asked' before walking off, the cloud following him—and Yuugi went after him to stop him before he got out of sight.

"Oh, don't worry about Will, his bark is worse than his bite," Sandy said cheerfully before running over to join Yuugi and her brother.

"_What_ have you brought here?" Shou asked in horror, reaching up to touch his ears.

"Yeah, I like the woman, but the guy is just plain rude," Fubuki frowned, glancing over at a rather stunned Kaiser.

"Trust me, they're both _very_ good, and Will is really nice once you get to know him," Ed said, a little blush creeping onto his cheeks. "He's also Johan and Juudai's best chance to get back together."

"Wait a second! You like Will, don't you, Ed?" Rei grinned at him, apparently just ignoring what Will had said about her and Asuka.

"So that's what he meant when he said 'an albino who can't say his true feelings,' right, mate?" Jim asked, a teasing smile on his face.

"...But how do we deal with what he said...?" Takuma asked sadly.

"This _isn't about me_!" Ed glared. "This is about Juudai and Johan, so let's _focus_ on _them_. And as to dealing with what he said, some of it's just a descriptive term that's a fact, so you don't _need_ to, but the things that need to be dealt with, just give yourselves some time to mull it over and decide. If you decide wrong, he'll just call you on it again, but with whatever you managed to mess up, so while he's here, you have time to fix whatever's wrong," Ed explained, turning away from the rest of the group to watch the twins walk away with Yuugi. "I think the only person they know who has no current issues is Yuugi-san, so don't mind the way they treat him."

The others traded looks, then Kaiser said, "I guess we'd better do something with their bags..." So they did, once Yuugi posted them with the room they had agreed on in the Obelisk Blue dorm.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Yuugi was walking with the twins towards the Osiris Red dorm as he said, "I really hope you can find a way to get them back together—for Juudai's sake. His life is going to end soon enough as it is, and he doesn't need it to end in a lot of pain like this."

"Why's he suddenly dying, anyway?" Sandy asked. "I can't see the past, only the future, so I'm kinda puzzled."

"He fused another being into his body. Said being was supposed to eliminate all threats to him, but became a threat in itself, and hurt him in the process. Now, it's trying to eliminate itself, and doesn't realize it's going to take Juudai with it, so..." Yuugi sighed, shaking his head.

"'Said being' is the spirit of Yubel," Will stated, and Yuugi nodded. "That kid must have some guts if he did something like that in the _first_ place. No wonder you—and apparently Kaiba-ice-prince—like him."

That made Yuugi laugh and say, "Too true." There, they walked up to the dorm building, and Yuugi opened the door to the room Juudai and Seto were staying in. The three saw that the two were dueling on the table, not using duel disks. "Having fun, you two?" Yuugi asked with a bit of a grin.

"Enough," Seto agreed, glancing up. "Juudai never ceases to amaze me, even when he's in such a state."

"Gee, thanks," Juudai answered dryly, then looked up and asked, "Who are those two with you?"

"Duelists who are joining the tournament here. Since you don't know them to link them to anyone—like Johan—you shouldn't have a problem being around them. Just be warned that Will can read minds and Sandy can see the future," Yuugi answered, introducing the two newcomers.

"Mind reading doesn't work on me," Juudai answered dryly.

"Oh?" Sandy asked. "Is that true, Will?" she asked of her brother.

After a moment of silence, he said in some faint amusement, "I can only get little snippits, and when his eyes start changing color to one green and one orange, I can't read anything at all. But the little bits I was getting were actually coming from _three_ different minds, not _two_. I know about Yubel, thanks to reading Yuugi-san's mind, and one's your own as Juudai, but who's the third?"

Juudai blinked, then gave a little grin and said, "That would be Haoh, my evil half. Yubel helped create him."

At that, Will whistled, then looked at Yuugi and said, "I want to go back to my room and rest. Sandy can stay around here for a while."

"That okay with you, Juudai?" Yuugi asked. "They don't know their way around yet, so I'm acting as their guide. I can come back once he's back at his room."

"Sure. And please do come back," Juudai agreed.

"Come join us, then, Sandy," Seto invited, so she grinned and sat at the table as Yuugi and Will left.

"So, Johan's room now?" Yuugi asked. "Were you able to find out what you needed to know, by the way?"

"Yes, to both questions," Will answered, then glared. "That idiot."

Yuugi snorted and led the way to Johan's room, where he opened the door and saw that Johan was sitting on a chair in the room with a knife in one hand. Both hands were limp in his lap, but Will immediately yanked the knife away from the other young man, letting Yuugi know where Johan's thoughts had been. He held a hand to his suddenly aching head as Will threw the knife across the room and slapped the teal haired man, the cloud behind him darkening.

"If death would solve all problems, no one would be alive on this world," Will glared at him. "What's _with_ all these dysfunctional people?" He then paused and said in a thoughtful tone, "Well, if they were functional, the world would be _way_ too happy a place for me to live in, so I guess I should be glad of all the dysfunction..."

Meanwhile, Johan just stared at him in shock for a minute, then asked, "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

Will pointed at Yuugi, so Johan looked, and Yuugi told him, "He's a friend of Ed's and a duelist. He's also a mind reader, and he's good at fixing people's problems. We asked him to help fix yours with Juudai. I'll leave you two to talk now." With that, he left.

Johan's eyes went back to Will as he asked, "Can you really...?"

"If _you_ put in some effort. I've got an idea, but the first thing you need to do is let me listen to 'your song' as a couple, and learn how to play that song on the guitar. Willing to try it?" Will asked.

"Yes!" Johan cried, getting up and going to his desk to pull a CD from it.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Jim was sitting on one of the rocks he'd usually be digging for fossils under when Kenzan found him. The dinosaur man asked, "Not digging today-saurus?"

"Only through my own mind," Jim answered with a bit of a laugh, even as Karen climbed up beside him.

There was a silence, then Kenzan sat to Jim's other side and asked, "Thinking about what Will said-saurus? I did." Another silence followed, then he added, "He was right. But...I don't know if you feel the same-saurus."

With a wry grin, Jim answered, "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"How about a test-saurus?" Kenzan asked with a big grin.

"A test?" Jim asked, puzzled.

Before he knew what was happening, he was caught up in a passionate kiss—and had no desire to pull away from it.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

As Shou walked back from the school store with a new pack of cards, he was surprised to find a hand catching his wrist. Looking, he saw Manjoume—and the 'Goth,' as Will had dubbed him, asked, "So what the Hell happened with you and Hell Kaiser?"

"You heard he was drunk, didn't you?" Shou asked dryly.

"Enough to tongue his own brother?" Manjoume glared.

"Yes—he does that to _anyone_ he thinks is 'attractive,' when he's drunk," Shou said in a dry tone, turning toward the Obelisk Blue dorms again. "Not that it particularly _matters_ to you, does it?"

"Yes, it _does_," the dark haired one answered.

"Why?" the blue haired one asked in surprise—only to find himself being pulled into a tight hug and passionate kiss.

"That's why," Manjoume said after they came up for air, a faint blush on his cheeks.

"Oh..." Shou murmured in surprise, then smiled and kissed him again.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Rei was sitting on the steps behind the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm, the ones that led down to the water behind the baths. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Asuka join her silently, and they sat together for some time before either spoke.

"...Does it bother you?" Asuka asked quietly.

"What, that you like me?" Rei asked, sounding amused.

"Well, does it?" the older one pressed, voice worried.

"I never really thought about it until now, but you know, for as much as I obsessed over Kaiser and Juudai...I can't really picture myself with any guy. The thought of being with _you_ doesn't bother me half as much," the younger woman answered, chuckling. "I just wish you'd said something sooner."

Asuka stared at the black haired woman in surprise for a minute, watching her rise and hold out a hand to the pale haired one. When Asuka took the hand a moment later, she smiled and said, "Thanks. I really am grateful."

Rei pulled her up and said with a wink, "Let's go 'play' in my room, then." They went.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Kaiser was just wandering, wondering what Will thought he knew about his and Fubuki's relationship—after all, what had happened between them while he'd been drunk wasn't...He couldn't finish the thought, even as he realized he'd already finished it at some point, since he _knew_ what he'd done was nothing short of rape. For what he didn't remember—and there _were_ missing parts in his memory—he remembered just enough to know what he'd done to Juudai, to Shou, and to Fubuki, all of them people he never wanted to hurt.

Suddenly, a hand caught his arm, making him return to his surroundings—only to see that he was up on the edge of the volcano, and Fubuki had grabbed him just as he'd been about to step off the edge. Looking at the worried expression in Fubuki's eyes, he asked softly, "Why did you stop me?"

"Because I don't want you to die, idiot," Fubuki glared.

"After what I did to you..." Kaiser began, shaking his head slowly.

"Damn it, Kaiser, stop acting like this! Yes, you took me by surprise, but I _liked_ what you did to me, and the part that hurts most is that you _regret_ it!" the other man almost yelled at him, yanking on his arm hard enough to make him stumble.

Slowly, Kaiser processed that, and realized what it meant. "Even though I was so drunk that I could barely walk?"

"Yes, Kaiser, even though you were piss-assed drunk!" Fubuki stated.

"...The way I was, it wouldn't have had any meaning, though...isn't that just as bad as being forced?" the 'vampire' asked cautiously.

"So _make_ it have meaning by doing it again when you're _not_ drunk," Fubuki offered, looking amused. And Kaiser wasted no time in doing just that.


	6. Chapter 6: Trust You

In this one, I use a song—and it's a real song, so I'm giving credit to the singer.

The song is called 'Trust You' by Yuna Ito (Ito Yuna in traditional Japanese name order)—look it up on-line!

It's a beautiful song, but the original version is in Japanese (it's J-pop), so what's written here is the English translation.

Trust You

Three weeks later

The day after the twins had arrived, Juudai passed out again, and was unconscious for a day and a half. At first, he seemed to be recovering from it, but even after the end of the recovery time, he retained some weakness. The time was drawing nearer, and his over-all health was getting worse, slowly but surely, and everyone did their best not to think about it or to remind Juudai of it. The only thing that was missing in Juudai's life was his love, Johan, but he'd gotten used to the occasional visit from the various Gem Beasts, most often Ruby.

A week and a half later, he was hit by another episode, followed in rapid succession by a second one, only two days after he woke up from the one before. That one hit Yuugi so hard that it took Will, Sandy, and Seto, even a conversation with Headmaster Samejima and Ayukawa-sensei, before he could recover from it and face Juudai again. Thankfully, there were no further episodes after that, but it was now obvious to the least observant tournament participants and students that Juudai was getting weaker—he rarely went to the main building anymore, and when he did, it was in a wheelchair. No one liked seeing him like that.

Finally, a week and a half after the double episode Juudai had, Ed headed to the twins' room. As far as he knew, Will was working with Johan, but he was getting very concerned about Juudai's health. Even _Johan_ had been concerned enough to go to the infirmary to check on Juudai while he was unconscious, despite the fact that they were avoiding each other. Regardless, if Will didn't finish his plan soon, Juudai would die, first, and he didn't want to see that, so he was going to find out how Will was doing with said plan. He was about to knock on the twins' door when it swung open to reveal Sandy in a short, red cocktail dress and matching high heels.

"Oh, hi, Ed," Sandy grinned before slipping past him and heading down the hall.

Since she'd left the door open, he walked into the room and saw Will sitting at the table, wearing a dark, tie-dyed t-shirt and black jeans. He couldn't resist thinking, _:__Damn he's hot,:_ but he knew he couldn't say it out loud. Instead, he asked, "Where's she going?"

Will turned around to look at Ed, and said pointedly, "I know, and if you'd _say_ it, not just _think_ it, then we'd get somewhere." He gathered his cards quickly and rose.

"I want to, but I—" Ed was cut off by a pair of soft lips on his own—and let himself enjoy the kiss until he felt Will pull away.

"I know why you came here, and the plan's ready to go, but in return for helping you, I want you to finally say the three words I want to hear. You know I won't go for a relationship unless the other person can say how they feel, so show me you _can_," the raven haired man said, then headed to the door. "Lock up for me, would you?"

"Wait, what do—?"

Ed was cut off again, but this time by Will putting on his jacket. The other man's grace while he moved was enough to almost make Ed drool, even as Will pulled open the door and said, "I'm off to get Juudai and Johan back together, now that Johan is finally ready to do what needs to be done, and Sandy's going on a date with O'Brien. Why she picked _him_, I'll never know, except maybe that her power doesn't bother him. I'll wait one day, no longer." Will then left, the black cloud following.

And Ed was left to stand there by himself, staring in shock at the now-closed door and wondering how the Hell he'd get his nerve up in _one_ day.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Johan was sitting on his bed with his knees pulled up to his chest and arms wrapped around them when he heard a knock at the door. He couldn't help but think it may have been Juudai after the scare from before, and he wasn't ready to face the brunette. "No, it's not Juudai, and I know you're there and awake so open the door," Will's voice came from the other side of the door in annoyance. Johan got up and unlocked the door so he could open it, then moved aside to let Will in.

"What are you doing here? Not more lessons?" Johan asked, voice a bit rough.

"Wow, you look terrible. How long have you been crying? Never mind, I already know," Will said with a smirk. "And no, it's not because of my gift. Half the academy can hear you, just not the Osiris dorm, and you know Juudai's pretty much stuck there now. _You_ have to do the leg-work."

"You haven't answered my question," Johan returned, crossing his arms.

"I think you're ready to put the plan into action," Will said, then gave Johan a small bag. "You'll need that after it works."

"So exactly what _is_ the plan, besides that it involved me learning that song inside out and backwards?" Johan asked, curious and nervous at once.

"Well, we've known for some time that Juudai still loves you—Kaiba-san got that confession from him almost a month ago—and said ice-prince should have slipped him a sleeping drug some hours ago. The drug should make him open to suggestion when he wakes, and you're going to be playing and singing that song as he's coming around. He'll actually give you a chance to apologize that way, so you'd better make the most of it," the raven haired one said with a smirk. "But first, you need a bit of a makeover."

Johan's eyes widened when he heard that last, and he started to back away from the taller man, even as said man backed him against the wall with a bag of unknown items in his hands. "Oh, oh..." the teal haired man muttered, closing his eyes in defeat.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

A while later, Will led the way to the tree out near the edge of the cliff right by the Osiris Red dorm. It was a place where Johan and Juudai had spent a lot of time, and not just since they'd become boyfriends, but even during the year they'd spent as just friends, so that area had a deep meaning for them. There was a boulder sticking half out of the ground near the tree they had liked to laze around under during their school year, and it was to that boulder Will led him to, and motioned for him to sit. Slowly, the teal haired one did, the borrowed guitar resting on his thigh in a practiced manner.

"Are you _sure_ this is going to work?" Johan asked worriedly. He was wearing tight, black pants and a purple vest with no shirt under it—rather like and unlike him at once.

"Hey if _he_ doesn't want you, _I'll_ take you," Will said, a little _too_ convincingly.

"Okay, here goes nothing..." Johan murmured, then started playing and singing.

"_The song that you taught me_

_Is still in the deepest reaches of my heart_

_Echoing along with that gentle voice."_

Juudai was woken with a start by the sound of someone singing and music playing. A quick look around told him that both Seto and Yuugi had left by then, and the sound he could hear was familiar, like a half-forgotten memory. He realized it was coming from just outside, so he got up and walked to the window. From there, he could see the point, and saw Johan sitting on the boulder there, playing a guitar and singing a song. He was dressed a bit differently from normal, and he was singing from his heart.

"_Overflowing droplets of feelings_

_Warmly run down my cheeks_

_'Become stronger, believe we're connected'_

_I'm always by your side."_

And at that, Juudai recognized the song as the same one that had been playing when they had gone on their first date, the same one that had been playing when they had first revealed their feelings for one another. As a result, the song had deep meaning to them, and had also been their vow to be together forever. He felt tears forming in his eyes as he watched his love sitting there in the cold wind, singing with an angelic voice.

"_I love you, I trust you_

_The tears I've shed for you_

_I love you, I trust you_

_Have taught me what love is_

_No matter how lost you get_

_I'll be by your side."_

Juudai grabbed his jacket as he listened to the song, and quickly opened the door; he heard it so much more clearly, and let his tears start to fall as he began walking—as quickly as he could—around the building.

"_I love you, I trust you_

_Share your loneliness with me_

_I love you, I trust you_

_Even in light, even in darkness."_

It was taking too long as far as Juudai was concerned, but he just couldn't move any faster. Finally, he got to the place where Johan sat, stopping a few feet away. He smiled lovingly at the teal haired man while he continued to both listen to the song and to cry silently. It seemed the song could still trigger all those emotions he'd thought he'd lost, and slowly realized that both of them had just _forgotten_ them, not _lost_ them.

"_I love you, I trust you_

_Even in sadness, even in happiness_

_I love you, I trust you_

_I want to protect everything that's yours_

_No matter how lost you get_

_I'll be by your side_

_Because we're together we can believe in each other_

_Don't leave me."_

As the song ended, Johan set the guitar beside him gently and quietly said to the brunette, "I love you, Juudai, and no matter what, I always will. I'm so sorry for the pain I caused you. Can you find it in your heart to take me back?" Johan asked, his eyes open and hopeful. As he'd been playing and singing their song for Juudai, he had _also_ felt the impact of the words in a way he hadn't during his practices with Will, so now the apology _also_ meant something _real_.

Juudai hesitated for a moment, then ran the last few feet to the teal haired man to hug him tightly. The second his head dropped onto Johan's shoulder, he started sobbing into it, and Johan just held him tightly while rubbing his hand soothingly along the brunette's back, even crying a bit, himself. It felt so good to hug each other again after so long, and neither wanted to let go—but thankfully, Juudai's warmth was helping to keep Johan warm. It would have been unbearable for Johan if Juudai still hadn't been willing to forgive him after all that, so he was grateful to Will for that.

A moment later, Johan remembered the ring in his pocket and pushed Juudai back a bit from him, saying, "You need something back, Love." When Juudai looked up at him in confusion, Johan pulled the ring out and slipped it back onto the brunette's finger.

For a moment, Juudai just stared at it in surprise, then looked up at Johan and burst into a fresh round of tears. "Thank you!" he cried, hugging the teal haired man again.

They stayed like that for a few hours before Johan realized Juudai was asleep in his arms. Smiling softly, he picked Juudai up bridal-style and carried him into Juudai's room in the Osiris dorm—no, into _their_ room in the dorm. With gentleness and kindness, he laid the brunette on the bed, then climbed in next to him, pulling the blankets up over them and wrapping his arms around his younger love. It didn't take the teal haired man long to fall asleep there.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

The next afternoon

"Please?" the teal haired man asked with a puppy dog pout, his arm around Juudai's waist, partly just to hold him and partly to keep him on his feet. They were in Will and Sandy's room, but Sandy was out again, this time to help with the wedding plans.

"No, uh-uh, I will not. There's no way you can get me to do it, I hate the idea of it. Find someone else to do it, but I won't. There's no way in Hell that you'll get me to do it...And no, Juudai, just _no_," Will said in an angry voice, arms crossed over his chest.

"But you're the only one qualified on short notice—Yuugi-san and Fubuki both agreed they couldn't find anyone else," Johan said pleadingly. Then he paused and asked, "And what did Juudai think that you picked up on it? You can't read his mind."

"He thought it would help if he offered to get Ed to wear...something really sexy. The problem is, _all_ _three_ of his minds thought the same bloody thing, all at the same damned time. But, I won't do it for a bribe like that," Will glared, looking away from the pair.

"Why not?" Juudai asked, using the puppy dog pout tactic. Will started to cave in at that, then got his gloom back and resisted.

"Because weddings are happy occasions, and I'm not a happy person, nor do I like happy things. It almost killed me to see you two make up," the dark haired one said.

"Then why'd you get ordained as a minister if you don't like weddings?" the brunette asked with a smirk.

"I was bored. You can't actually expect me to marry the two of you," Will insisted, the black cloud getting darker—and moving above his head for some reason.

"You said you would for Sandy and O'Brien," Johan pointed out shrewdly.

"She's my sister, I kinda have to," he answered in a last-ditch attempt to get out of it, but it didn't work because Juudai chose that moment to pull out all the stops.

"Either you do it, or I give Ed a chastity belt—and I keep the key," Juudai said with an almost evil smirk.

"...Fine," Will sighed, and the moment he agreed, the cloud gave a roar of thunder and started to rain on him. "Great, now I need an umbrella," he glared before pushing the two other men out of his room. He was about to close and lock the door when Ed came up and opened his mouth to say something. A moment later, he had grabbed the albino by the arm and dragged him into the room, then made sure to lock the door so Juudai and Johan couldn't get back in to bother him anymore.

"Well, _that_ went well," Juudai grinned, grabbing his soon to be husband's hand and giving it a soft squeeze.

"Better than the rest figured we could do," Johan agreed, smiling at the younger man he was still supporting. "Need a rest?"

"That would be good. Other than being fitted, we've done our part," Juudai grinned and nodded, so Johan took him to the closest room—Johan's Obelisk Blue room. Or rather, _their_ Obelisk Blue room.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Three days later

It was around mid-morning when Juudai passed out again, and had to be taken to the infirmary. He woke up later that day, but had to spend the next two days in the infirmary before Ayukawa-sensei would let him out, and that was the day before the wedding was set to take place. During that time, Johan stayed with him unless Yuugi kicked him out to rest, and this time, Juudai didn't recover nearly so well. He stayed pale, and he'd lost some weight, though it wasn't a lot yet.

While they were in the infirmary the day after Juudai woke, Kaiser came to the door and knocked softly. Johan looked up at him warily, and Juudai blinked in surprise, but it was clear he was drained of energy. "Did you come here for a _reason_, Kaiser?" Johan asked at last.

"...Two reasons," Kaiser answered quietly.

"Two?" the teal haired man asked in surprise.

"The first is to apologize, to both of you. My idiocy caused you both a lot of pain, so I felt you deserved a proper apology. I'm sorry for behaving so badly, for kissing Juudai, and being the reason why you wouldn't even _look_ at each other for the last three weeks. After this, I'm never touching a drink again. Well, not an alcoholic one," Kaiser said in a quiet tone they weren't used to hearing him use. It seemed he meant it.

"Fine, apology accepted," Juudai said with a little, tired grin. "What's your other reason for coming?"

"We need to know who you want to give which of you away," Kaiser answered. "If Johan's going to be given away, I assume he'd pick his father—his parents just got here and are waiting outside, since they want to meet Juudai. But we're not sure about Juudai, since his parents won't come, and even Yuugi-san wondered if you'd actually _want_ him to give you away."

"Huh?" Juudai blinked, then looked up at Johan for a moment. "I think it's better if I have help to walk, so I should be given away. My recovery isn't going so well this time."

"So we heard," Kaiser agreed softly. "If you feel that's best, then who do you want to give you away?"

"It would be best," Johan agreed quietly, then said to Juudai, "Just let Yuugi-san do it. He's your legal guardian, and you're closer to him than a lot of people realize."

For a few minutes, Juudai thought about that, then gave a little nod and said, "You're right. I think I'd be comfortable with it if he gave me away. Yuugi-san it is."

"So the other part of that is who'll be best man and who'll carry the rings," Kaiser went on. "We arranged everyone else, but those roles, we felt you should pick. We had a pretty good idea of who _wouldn't_ be picked, so the rest is up to you."

Juudai tugged on Johan's hand, saying, "I want Shou to be one of them."

After a moment, Johan sighed, then nodded. "I guess I'll have to talk with him to see if he can stop hating me. And the other...could be Fubuki, I guess? You've known him since first year, right, Juudai?"

"Yeah, close to the end of the year, though. But he'll be less excitable than Kenzan, less—er—angry than Manjoume, and I know him better than the others," Juudai agreed. "And, well, even with Kaiser's apology, I don't think either of us could handle him there."

At that, Kaiser's look became slightly amused. "We figured that. I have another role already, and if you want, Shou's outside. You can talk with him whenever you want, and in the meantime, he's keeping your parents entertained with stories of Juudai and of your first year with him, here at the campus." There, Kaiser paused, then asked, "Do you mind if your parents meet Juudai?"

"Sure," Johan agreed, so Kaiser nodded and stepped outside.

A minute later, a man and woman came in, and smiled when they saw Juudai, then gave Johan hugs. Johan quickly introduced the two to Juudai, then left the three alone with the words that he had to help with the wedding plans. With a final warning for his parents to please not let Juudai get up, he shut the door behind him and faced Kaiser and Shou. The brothers were standing side-by-side, waiting for him, and Ayukawa-sensei used some excuse about refilling something to leave the main room of the infirmary so they could talk privately.

"So...I guess you know Juudai wants you to be part of the main party, right, Shou?" Johan asked of the smaller man.

"We figured that, because it was Juudai, and we spent three years together," Shou agreed dryly, but didn't seem to be so angry when he looked at Johan.

"...Why were you so—er—pissed at me?" Johan asked quietly.

"Because you hurt Juudai, and I swore I'd protect him long before he met you," the blue haired man answered, keeping it simple.

"Okay, I understand that. Are you still too angry to work with me?"

"...He's so happy because he has you, and...Well, I just can't stay mad at someone who gives him so much joy."

At that, Johan blinked and stared, then slowly nodded and asked, "Do you have a position you'd prefer?"

"Ring bearer," Shou answered immediately. "I don't consider myself close enough to you to be your best man—you're closer to Fubuki, in all honesty." He then paused and added, "Mark my words, Anderson. If you hurt him again, I'll kill you and make it look like an accident."

Johan just gulped and nodded before going back into Juudai's room to be with his love and parents. Who would have thought that little man could be so intimidating?


	7. Chapter 7: Wedding Day

Here's the lemon, people! I'll mark where it really starts so you can skip it—it goes from where it's marked to the end of the chapter!

Wedding Day

Early morning, four days later

"A-choo!" Ed sneezed, sending flour everywhere. That meant he just got more of it in his nose, and had to resist the urge to sneeze again as Sandy turned a glare on him.

"Ed, if you can't control your sneezing, I'm going to have to kick you out!" she told him darkly. "We can't afford this on their wedding day!" There, she grinned widely, having just reminded herself of the happy day ahead.

"Sorry, it's just that there's too much dust around here..." Ed murmured absently, then went back to stirring the cake mix again. "Why do we even have to make another cake? We already _have three_!"

"Ed, how many people are coming to this wedding?" Sandy asked cheerfully.

"Umm...How many?" he questioned.

"About nine hundred people," Yuugi said from the doorway to the room, looking amused. "Johan and Juudai are quite popular, so not only are all the students and former students of Duel Academia coming, but most, if not _all_, of the duelists participating in the tournament. Since, according to protocol, everyone has to get a slice of the wedding cake, that means a lot of cake. And Sandy just made things harder for us."

"How?" Ed asked in surprise.

"Because the giant cake is just for decoration. The other four will be eaten," Sandy answered cheerfully, then measured the largest cake. "Two meters. Perfect."

"We're making _two more_? I thought this was meant to be fun!" Ed complained.

"Do you want me to hurt you?" the blond asked with an oddly cheerful grin before turning to Kaiser. "No, you have to gradually add the milk, not put it in all at once, and make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl to get all the flour off. Oh, and slow down. You're _not_ trying to pulverize it—it's a _cake_, _not_ an enemy."

"It _feels_ like an enemy right now..." Kaiser muttered, but obediently slowed down.

"Kaiser," Sandy began in a cheerful voice that was oddly threatening.

"Is this right?" Rei asked suddenly. She, Mizuchi, and Asuka had been decorating the cakes with tiny sculptures of the Gem Beasts, the Neo-Spacians, and the Elemental Heroes. It made for a set of colorful cakes, that was for sure. Right at the top was a sculpture of the two duelists who were to be married standing hand-in-hand.

"...Wow, that's amazing!" Sandy blinked, astounded.

"Well, Rei _is very_ good with her hands," Asuka said, chuckling while her younger lover blushed, having caught the double meaning in her words.

"Okay?" Sandy blinked, then shrugged and said, "Well, with us going like this, we should be ready for the reception in about...two hours, so a bit ahead of schedule!" She grinned at that.

Just then, Yuugi turned around and said, "Well, well, if it isn't the happy couple."

"Hey guys!" Juudai called from the hall. "Hi Yuugi-san!"

"What are you _doing_ here?" Sandy asked with a glare, joining them in the hall and seeing that Johan was supporting Juudai's weight. "You're not allowed to see the cakes until the wedding!" More than anything, that told her someone had to take care of the brunette, so she'd have to send someone with him. If only she could get them away...

"I thought we weren't meant to see each other," Johan blinked—and Sandy jumped on the offered opening.

"Correct, that too! Yuugi-san, take Juudai away to get his fitting done properly, and Johan, stay here while Mizuchi gets your suit. You can change in the room down the hall, where the rest of the wedding party is gathering. From this point on, Juudai is Yuugi-san's to take care of, until he gives Juudai away this afternoon! Hop to it, everyone!" Sandy said, reaching out to push the two apart.

"Careful!" Yuugi gasped, moving over quickly to help support Juudai.

Suddenly, the young woman's eyes went wide and blank while she was touching both Juudai and Johan. A moment later, she blinked and her eyes cleared, then she grinned widely at the two of them and said, "Oh my God! Congratulations, congratulations, and congratulations again!" A moment later, she hugged them both, then pushed the brunette away with Yuugi, Mizuchi following. Everyone stared at her in puzzled surprise for a minute before she faced them and said, "Let's get back to work! We have a wedding to finish preparing!"

"Sandy, what just happened?" Ed asked her as he went back to stirring the mix.

"That was a super-strong vision, and it was just a single one, not multiple different paths the future could take," Sandy answered, grinning widely. "When that happens, what I saw is the _only_ path the future will take. But I want to keep you all in suspense, so you can just wait for things to play out. Let me just say that it's a damned good thing we got them back together."

"Oh..." the others all murmured in surprise, then all went back to work.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

That afternoon

"I'm so nervous I feel like there's a butterfly farm in my stomach," Johan commented to Fubuki with a weak smile.

"You'll be fine," Fubuki answered with an encouraging grin and pat on the back.

At the moment, almost the whole wedding party was assembled and waiting by Will, their 'priest.' Fubuki stood by Johan, and Shou stood on the other side of Fubuki with the cushion the rings were on. The chapel and surrounding area was packed with people, but only those who actually _knew_ Juudai and Johan were allowed in the main chapel for the wedding. That was still a lot of people, though. Rei had just come in, playing the part of an ideal flower girl, and her entrance also marked the start of the wedding march.

Finally, the love of Johan's life entered the chapel and was walking down the aisle with Yuugi-san, the older man's hand helping to support Juudai's weight. The younger man looked less nervous than Johan felt, though that may also have been because Juudai looked so tired that he may not have had the strength to be nervous. Either way, Johan was glad of Juudai's insight to needing someone to help support him, so the process actually worked quite well. Not long after, Juudai and Yuugi stood in front of Will, and the wedding march drifted off so the ceremony could proceed.

"Who gives this man to this man?" Will asked, eyes on Yuugi.

"I do, Mutou Yuugi," the older man said with a smile.

"Mutou-san, what is your relationship to the—groom?" the acting 'priest' asked formally. His resident dark cloud was darkening by the moment.

"I'm Yuuki Juudai's legal guardian," Yuugi stated clearly.

"Fair enough," Will said as murmurs rose—apparently, the news had surprised a lot of people. "Then let us begin the ceremony. Please hand Yuuki-san off to his chosen groom." There was a silence as Fubuki nudged Johan and Johan moved over to take Juudai from Yuugi, remembering to support his weight. As Yuugi stepped back to stand with Fubuki and Shou, Will went on, "We are gathered here today to celebrate the joining of Yuuki Juudai and Johan Anderson in eternal matrimony. If there is anyone present who has just cause and reason that these two should not be wed, speak now, or forever hold your peace." No one made a sound after a minute, so he continued, "Do you, Yuuki Juudai, take Johan Anderson to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Juudai answered, and Johan heard his voice trembling a bit.

"Do you, Johan Anderson, take Yuuki Juudai to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Johan agreed, voice trembling a bit as well.

There, Will said, "The couple has written their own vows, so they may now speak those vows." The cloud above him got darker as he fell silent.

"Juudai," Johan began, trying hard to still his trembling voice. "We have had some ups and downs, and in some downs I left you to fight alone, but today, as I stand here with you, I am changed. I will no longer run or push you away, I will be standing next to you through everything, protecting you from harm to the best of my ability," Johan said, smiling at Juudai, who had tears in his eyes as he gazed at the teal haired man. Shou gave him the ring he had to put on Juudai's finger, and he did.

"Johan," Juudai said shakily once he had Johan's ring on his finger. "From the moment I first saw you, I knew you were the one for me, though it took me over a year to really realize that. As time went on, I felt more and more complete, I became truly happy. Standing here with you, I know my life could not get any happier. I love you so much, and I never want us to part." At that moment, Juudai began crying a few silent tears, and his hand shook as he took the ring from an amused-looking Shou to put it on Johan's finger.

"Juudai, are you okay?" Johan asked quietly in concern, worried that it was too much strain on the younger man. He was rewarded with a smack on the back of the head from Will, which caused laughter from the watching crowd, and even Juudai gave a little chuckle. "What was _that_ for?" Johan asked, rubbing his sore head.

"Two reasons," Will answered dryly. "One, it's happy crying, not because he's at his limit—so far, he's holding up; and two, I needed payback for making me do this." That produced shocked murmurs and more laughter, and when it quieted, Will looked back up at the crowd and announced, "By the power vested in me by God and the Law, I now pronounce you husband and husband. You may kiss the groom."

Johan smiled as he lifted Juudai's chin and slowly pressed his lips to his husband's, and the brunette responded eagerly. It was like nothing the two could remember, like a fire rushing through them the second their lips touched, and that fire passed through their whole bodies, making their fingertips—and even their toes—tingle. One of Johan's arms snaked its way around Juudai's waist and the other wound its way up his back to rest in his hair, even as Juudai's arms wrapped around Johan's neck and his fingers wove themselves into Johan's hair.

Both were completely oblivious to the cheers everyone else was raising, loudly, too caught up in the sensation to care. Johan's tongue ran across the brunette's bottom lip, asking for entrance, and Juudai gave it, opening his lips for his lover to explore, not even bothering to fight for dominance at the moment. Without even realizing it, Johan started to take Juudai's suit jacket off—when they were both pulled back into reality by a smack on the head.

A quick look around showed that Rei had been videotaping the whole thing, but the others were just cheering. "Hurry up and get out of here, before my cloud makes it start raining!" Will frowned at them, picking up his umbrella—just in case.

The newly-married couple smiled at each other as they ran (well, walked as quickly as Juudai could manage) down the aisle, everyone still cheering and clapping. Outside the doors, there was a ton more cheering by the people who couldn't fit inside the main chapel. It was mind-boggling to them how popular they were, that so many people had come to their wedding, and the fact that Seto had even flown a _limousine_ to the campus for them to use especially for the wedding was over the top. At least the limo Seto had chosen had tinted windows.

The second they closed the door of the limo behind the couple, Johan pounced on his husband, lips attaching to the brunette's neck. "I. Am. Going. To. Take. You. Home. And. Have. You. For. Lunch. Dinner. And. Breakfast," Johan informed Juudai between kisses. His hand went underneath Juudai's shirt and pinched a nipple, making Juudai make the most delicious moan.

"We ah-already ha-ad lunch..." Juudai teased verbally around the finger teasing Johan was putting his nipples through.

Johan laughed and drew back to look fondly down at Juudai as he said, "Fine, for dinner, breakfast, and lunch. Better?" He then dove down to kiss Juudai's neck again.

Juudai tilted his head back, giving Johan better access, when he saw that they had passed the reception area. "Um, Mr. Limo-Driver, we just passed the reception are-aaaah," Juudai moaned when Johan squeezed his member through his pants.

"Orders were if you started acting like this, I had to take you to your Osiris room, not the reception. Kaiba-sama figured you'd waited long enough," the driver said. Soon after, he pulled up outside their dorm.

"Thank you," Johan said gratefully as he picked Juudai up bridal-style and carried him into their room. He locked the door (quite a trick to manage with Juudai in his arms) before gently laying his husband down on the bed. "Now to finally claim what is mine," Johan stated before he pulled off Juudai's jacket and sent it to some unknown corner of the room, where Juudai was sure the rest of his clothes would soon follow. And given Juudai's condition, he was rather grateful for Johan's want for activity right then, since it meant less strain on the brunette. He was more than willing to surrender to Johan.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Everyone was laughing and dancing, all knowing where Juudai and Johan were. None of them paid any mind to the thumping coming from one of the tables. "Kill. Me. Now," Will said as he slammed his head onto the table between each word, as though the extra punctuation would help, sick to his stomach with all the happiness.

"Hey, that was a good thing you did, and besides, at least you have me," Ed said before he kissed Will—and everyone stared for a moment as the action caused his dark cloud to turn white and shoot out a rainbow, then quickly turn back to dark gray.

"_Now to finally claim what is mine," _the people at the reception heard. Everyone turned around to look at the video screen to see Johan climbing on top of Juudai.

"Rei, I can't believe you did that..." Kaiser said, staring at the screen.

"I didn't!" she cried. "I wish I did, but I didn't," she grinned, clapping her hands.

"Then who did?" Yuugi and Seto asked, both glaring viciously.

"I had to get some payback," Will said with a smirk before Sandy pulled the cord and the screen went black.

"Let's give them some privacy!" she said and every one turned to look at her in surprise. "They need and _deserve_ it!"

"Thank you, Sandy!" Yuugi grinned at her, so she nodded at him.

*****Juudai and Johan*****LEMON STARTS HERE*****

Slowly, the teal haired man climbed on top of Juudai and saw that Juudai looked a little scared. "Don't worry, I'll be gentle...or rough," Johan said as he licked the brunette's ear—and heard him try to cover a moan. "Oh, no, we'll have none of that...I want to hear those sweet sounds coming from your mouth," Johan chuckled as he ground his hips against Juudai's. That caused the brunette to moan loudly. "Perfect..."

Johan started to undo Juudai's shirt, licking and sucking on the new skin revealed, reveling in the mewls and moans coming from his lover. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Johan asked with a little smirk, licking his way up to Juudai's right nipple, then biting it gently while pinching the other one. Instinctively, the brunette reached up to grab Johan's head.

"Y-yes Jo-haaaan..." Juudai moaned again, his eyes closed as Johan switched nipples to give the same treatment to his other nipple.

Johan's hand travelled down Juudai's chest and rested on the very noticeable bulge between the brunette's legs, causing the younger man to moan again. For a bit, the teal haired man just teased him through his pants, then threw Juudai's shirt away with an animalistic growl. Once the shirt was out of the way, Johan started to kiss and lick all the way down to the brunette's naval, swirling his tongue and causing Juudai to make even more interesting—and stimulating—noises. In the process of doing that, around the way his hands touched and stroked the brunette, Johan managed to get his own clothes off.

"Johaaan...ungh...Johan, I n-neeeed you..." Juudai whispered, his cheeks flushed from pure pleasure.

"What was that? I don't think I quite heard you," Johan said with a smirk, and licked all the way up Juudai's torso until he got back to his neck, biting one spot near the collar until he drew blood, then sucking, making sure it would leave a permanent hickey.

"I...need you...inside meeeee..." Juudai moaned, his voice going up an octave as Johan cupped his member again.

"Well, then, why didn't you _say_ so?" Johan chuckled before he pulled off Juudai's pants and boxers to see his fully erect manhood. "Well, _this_ looks tasty," the teal haired man murmured seductively, then swallowed it whole, causing Juudai's moans to turn into near-screams of ecstasy. Johan's humming against the flesh in his mouth just made it feel so much better, and he didn't notice the first finger Johan slipped into his anus. It was for the same reason that he also didn't feel the second finger slipping in, and took little to no note of the bit of pain from the stretching.

It didn't take long before Juudai screamed out, "Johaan, I'm c—nnnnh" A moment later, he came inside Johan's mouth, arching back as his eyes rolled back. The teal haired man was more than happy to swallow all of the brunette's seed, feeling the warm, cream-like substance pour down his throat. The only problem was that Juudai came a bit too soon.

At least Juudai was still riding his high when he felt Johan add the third finger, but the brunette still groaned at the pain. "I'm sorry, just relax," Johan said, passionately kissing Juudai to take his mind off the pain while the teal haired one searched for his lover's sweet spot. He knew he'd found it when the brunette gave a particularly loud moan and arched under him. Once he had it, the older man continually pressed it while he finished the process of stretching Juudai.

Finally, Johan removed his fingers, and Juudai whined at the loss of the feeling. As the teal haired one pulled back, he opened his eyes and saw Johan pouring some—was it scented?—lubricant into his hand, then rubbing it on his member. _:__Where did Johan get the lube? Wow, Johan is _big_. When did he take his clothes off?: _Juudai wondered, seeing Johan's clothes scattered around the floor with his own.

"You ready for this?" Johan asked gently as he climbed back onto the younger man and lined himself up at Juudai's entrance.

"I'm...a little worried. Will your—member—fit in me?" Juudai asked quietly.

"Of course. Just be patient and try to relax, okay?" the teal haired man asked as he gave the brunette an encouraging, gentle smile.

"Okay," Juudai nodded, taking a few deep breaths.

Slowly, Johan pushed his hard member into Juudai's body, moaning at the feeling of being inside his love. He looked down and saw that the younger man was wincing, so he leaned down to kiss him in an attempt to take his mind off the pain. Still, he kept pushing slowly until he was fully sheathed in the brunette's body, then stayed still there for awhile, waiting patiently for Juudai's pain to ease and quietly reminding him to take deep breaths and relax during the process.

It took a bit of time, but eventually, Juudai relaxed enough that his body could adjust to the intrusion, and when the pain went away, he arched into the older man and gave a little moan. That was the signal for Johan to continue, so he did, his own patience worn a bit thin from having to hold back so long. Slowly, Johan pulled out, until only the head was in, then thrust forward, causing Juudai to moan again. Still, he could tell the angle wasn't quite right, so adjusted it slightly on his next thrust, and the one after it.

On the next one, Juudai fairly screamed, arching into him and clutching his shoulders hard enough to draw blood. And that was what Johan had been looking for, so the teal haired one smiled—even as Juudai moaned and begged, "There! M-more, Johan, there, deeper!" Johan was more than happy to oblige, so he slowly started to build up a rhythm and started to go a bit faster, hitting that spot with every inward thrust. Juudai screamed every time.

Suddenly, he felt a pressure forming in his groin, so began, "I'm...going to—"

The brunette was cut off by Johan gripping his member tightly, keeping Juudai from ejaculating. "Not yet, Juudai, we are coming together this time," Johan said.

Juudai was writhing beneath Johan as the teal haired one picked up the pace, his hold on the younger man's member causing said younger to beg the older man to let him come. It was a rather erotic sound, so Johan just kept holding him and changed his position slightly to prolong the experience. He continued to thrust into Juudai until he couldn't take it any longer, keeping his hold on the younger man as pre-come dripped slowly down his hand and the brunette kept digging his nails into the teal haired one's shoulders with every thrust.

Finally, he knew he couldn't hold it anymore, so released his hold on Juudai. With a final, hard thrust from Johan, the younger man released, his whole body going tense and tight. And when the older man felt Juudai's body squeeze his member, he released with a scream of his own, then collapsed onto his love and gave him a soft, sweet kiss.

Johan wrapped his arms around Juudai and whispered, "You're mine...forever." A sound of agreement came from Juudai before they both fell asleep in each other's arms.


	8. Chapter 8: Surprises

Surprises

Three months later

About half a week after the wedding, Juudai passed out again, and this time, he spent almost three whole days unconscious. That worried everyone, but since there was nothing they could do about his deteriorating condition, no one talked about it, just treated Juudai as they always had. The month wore on, but there were no further episodes during the next four weeks, and Juudai's strength even began returning, bit by bit. His skin grew less pale, and he could walk for longer periods. Still, everyone knew he was nearing the end of his life, and with the tournament over—Yuugi won, though he insisted that was only because Juudai had been taken out of the running—it was quiet there, since only Juudai's friends were still there. Well, and the students. Yuugi and Seto were also staying, though everyone understood why in Yuugi's case, and figured Seto's had something to do with Yuugi.

As the second month passed and Juudai's strength kept returning with no further episodes of ill health, everyone began to wonder about what had happened. They were grateful for the extra time, especially Yuugi and Johan, but there was still a dread that hung over them—his condition could suddenly do a one-eighty on them. It was a very frightening thought, particularly the more Juudai recovered. In fact, Juudai was almost back to full health.

Mid-way through the third month, things took a turn that no one was expecting them to take. Sandy and Will, who had stayed for their respective lovers, both seemed to be rather pleased when they heard Juudai had begun to throw up after his afternoon naps, which were a habit he'd acquired while being ill. When it happened almost every day for a week, others began to worry, but a basic check-up with Ayukawa-sensei revealed no cause for concern, so she gave him a stomach medicine and sent him home. Only, the issue continued through the next week, despite the medicine.

"Johan?" Juudai called out weakly one afternoon, looking around their room.

A moment later, he realized he could hear the shower running so assumed Johan was in it, making the brunette sigh. He was going to go back to sleep when the sudden need to throw up caused him to bolt for the bathroom and lean over the toilet—and only just made it in time to start heaving. Johan, hearing the sounds his love was making over the toilet, pushed open the shower curtain—and saw Juudai on his knees there. Grabbing a towel to keep some of the water off the floor, he stepped out of the shower and moved over to Juudai to rub his back.

"Are you okay? This isn't stopping, is it?" Johan asked quietly.

Slowly, the younger man sat back and took a few deep breaths before saying in a soft voice, "I think we need to see Ayukawa-sensei again." He then continued to throw up into the toilet.

"You don't think it's time for you to...do you?" Johan asked worriedly, feeling his heart aching.

"...We'll just have to wait and see," Juudai answered around his heaving, squeezing Johan's hand comfortingly.

Finally, the heaving stopped, and Johan helped Juudai up, then finished his shower. Juudai joined him for the rest of it, making it take even longer. When they were both clean and dry, they headed to the infirmary, and Ayukawa-sensei sat down to listen to them as they talked about what was wrong. There was no doubt in her mind now that something strange was going on, so this time, she began taking blood samples and running tests for everything that could possibly happen to a human body. As she was leaving the private room with the last of the tests she wanted to take, Yuugi and Seto came in, looking worried.

"What's wrong, Juudai, Johan?" Juudai's guardian asked in concern.

"We don't know yet, just that Juudai's been throwing up a lot lately," Johan told the two. "And it isn't getting better, even with the medicine Ayukawa-sensei gave us last week, which is the _real_ puzzle. It'll take a few hours to run all the tests, though."

"So you're going to wait here until then?" Yuugi asked as he sat on Juudai's other side (Johan was already in his usual place, while Juudai lay on the bed).

"That would be the logical thing, since it may well be time," Seto told the other man, giving Yuugi's shoulder a squeeze.

"I'm not ready to give up yet," Juudai told them dryly. "But you're welcome to stay with me until we know. How did you know to come, though?"

At that, Seto and Yuugi both looked amused, but it was the 'ice-prince' who gave them the answer. "We told Ayukawa-sensei to call us immediately if it looked like you were going to be in the infirmary for awhile, not just to call Johan if he didn't already know you were here."

"And she agreed?" Johan blinked.

"Partly so _you'd_ go get some rest and partly because I'm the closest thing Juudai has to a parent," Yuugi grinned in amusement.

After Johan gave Yuugi a faintly amused look, the four fell silent to wait for the results to come in.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

Juudai and Johan were holding hands when Ayukawa-sensei came back into their room with a smile. Yuugi was leaning against Seto for comfort, and was rubbing his arms nervously, even as Johan's grip kept subconsciously tightening on Juudai's hand. Seto wouldn't look at anyone, and Juudai had drifted into sleep more than once, but was awake when the woman came back in. Seeing her, the brunette sat up slowly, which made Yuugi stand up straight and Johan move to sit on the edge of the bed beside Juudai. Only the 'ice-prince' didn't move, other than to look in her direction.

"Um, so what did you find, Ayukawa-sensei?" Juudai asked, puzzled by the smile.

"Well, the news is pretty shocking, but it's all great news," she said cheerfully. "But when I say 'shocking,' I mean I had to sit there, staring at it for almost two hours before I realized what I was looking at, and when I did, I had to run the tests again, just to be sure. You may want to brace yourselves, all the same."

"So...what's this great, shocking news?" Johan asked, hope shinning in his eyes.

"You remember when I said Yubel was trying to eliminate herself, and was going to eliminate Juudai accidentally at the same time?" Emi asked the men. They all traded looks and nodded, so she went on, "Well, we didn't realize this at the time, but when Juudai fused himself with her, he took on some female aspects, all parts that came from Yubel. The current result is that Juudai is about three months pregnant, and it looks like he's no longer dying because Yubel accidentally found another way to 'eliminate' herself from his body—by becoming one of the fetuses growing in him."

"'One of'?" Yuugi asked sharply, even as Juudai and Johan stared with wide eyes.

"Juudai's going to have triplets," the woman answered in amusement.

"_What_?" Juudai, Johan, and Yuugi all gasped, even as Seto stood there with his mouth hanging open in shock.

"What about the other two kids? And what about the protective abilities Yubel gave Juudai?" Seto asked after a moment.

"Good questions, Kaiba-sama," Ayukawa-sensei nodded at him. "As far as Yubel's abilities go, because Juudai and Yubel fused together, those powers will stay in him—after all, it's Yubel's _soul_ that's going to be born into one of the triplets, not her physical self. Well, he may not be able to transform when he summons her in a serious duel, but the other powers will stay—and be born into the baby as well. Furthermore, as far as I've been able to tell, both Johan's and Juudai's dark parts are also going to be born into the bodies of the triplets, hence the reason there's three. Each will look different, so they'll be fraternal twins, even though they all came from one egg, as far as I can tell. Basically, the parts that caused you pain have decided to give _you_ a break and _themselves_ a chance to start over. Neither Johan nor Juudai will lose any skills or powers, but they'll need them, given the powers their kids will have. Raise them right, and they may well save the world one day—that would fit their family line, wouldn't it?" At that, she gave a little chuckle.

"I have a question," Juudai put in quietly. Emi nodded at him, so he asked, "If I can become pregnant once, can I again?"

"Well, that's the hard part here," Ayukawa-sensei answered, sighing a bit. "This is, as far as I can tell, a one-shot deal. Granted, you'll live a long, healthy life, but _even with_ the changes Yubel made to your body, it wasn't really _built_ to have babies. It'll have to be a c-section—in other words, we'll have to cut your belly open and pull them out—and afterwards, not only will it be really hard on you if you _do_ become pregnant again, but the likelihood of it happening is almost none. Actually, to be on the safe side, I think we should do an operation on you to make sure it _doesn't_ happen again. You'll have your hands full with the triplets, after all."

"...I don't know..." Johan murmured, looking at Juudai in concern.

"Is it really so dangerous for Juudai to become pregnant again?" Yuugi asked then, his eyes seeing something far away.

"Let's put it this way," Ayukawa-sensei began, crossing her arms. "He got lucky that the egg actually _stopped_ in the uterus area of his body, but because _all_ of that system is set up intrinsically _wrong_, it could, even fertilized, stop and attach itself in a place it isn't supposed to be, like the ovaries or the—almost non-existant—vagina. Worse, the fact of it stopping in a place like the ovaries is very possible, because the whole pathway is open to his partner's sperm, even parts they can't normally get into. If something like that happens, the fetus would have to be removed before it killed him, and doing so would kill the fetus. Better not to risk this a second time than to put the parents through so much pain."

"If it's so hard, how could I have gotten Juudai pregnant in the _first_ place? I never even _knew_ he _had_ a vagina..." Johan blinked in surprise, and the other men looked at the woman expectantly for an answer.

"Honestly?" she asked with a raised brow. At their nods, the woman said, "Sperm like to travel. Getting semen in or on areas near that place usually means they'll find their way in. And in this particular case, I think things turned out so well because those three spirits were helping it work. Next time, you won't have that."

"I see," Juudai blinked. "I guess we just do this once, then." He then smiled.

"You're happy?" Johan asked in surprise.

"Well, it's one chance—and three kids—more than we thought we'd have, right?" Juudai asked impishly, and Johan had to laugh at that.

"So what do they need to know about the whole pregnancy process?" Seto asked, even as Yuugi hugged the two younger men.

Ayukawa-sensei grinned and said, "For the next few months, just come in to see me about once a month, and Kaiba-sama, Yuugi-san, get in touch with Johan's parents so the four of you can help them prepare for having a baby or three. Mrs. Anderson will be especially useful there. If Juudai gets sick, see that he gets to me right away—some normal medications can harm a fetus, so he'll need special medicines. And Johan and Juudai, you'd better start trying to decide what you'll name the kids, a girl and two boys. It's up to you if you want to give them different names or not."

"Yes, Sensei," Johan and Juudai agreed wryly.

And when all their friends heard the news, they all remembered what Sandy had said back on their wedding day.

*****Juudai and Johan*****

**Eight years later**

"Come on, Daddy, we had to meet Papa, Jehu and Haoh at the costume shop ten minutes ago!" a seven-year-old girl said, pulling on her dad's hand, cheeks turning red from the effort she was making in that losing battle. She had one brown eye and one green eye, and her long hair was mostly black with some white waving around the top.

"Calm down, Yubel. We just had to stop and get some candy for tonight—I'm _not_ going to clean any eggs off our house because some kids got angry without a sugar fix," the brunette said, smiling at his daughter.

"But Daddy!" Yubel whined, still trying to pull Juudai faster.

"I swear I don't know where you get your impatience from," Juudai told her wryly, and heard a chuckle. Turning to look, he saw his husband, Johan, and their two sons eating ice cream cones at an outdoor table by the ice cream stand.

Yubel's mouth dropped open when she saw the cones, and she cried, "No fair! I want ice cream, too!"

"Okay, here, Haoh, go get Yubel an ice cream cone, and you can each have a candy apple for Halloween, too," Johan said, giving Haoh the required money.

And Haoh's golden-brown eyes lit up at being given the responsibility. "Okay, thank you, Papa," he said, taking the money. Running his hand through his flyaway, brown hair to get it out of his eyes, he went over to Juudai and hugged him, saying, "Love you, Daddy." He then walked with his head held high while Yubel made a mad dash for the ice cream store nearby.

"Love you, too," Jehu muttered, eyes still on his deck, but he followed the others, bumping into _something_ every now and then. Like Haoh was almost a carbon copy of Juudai, Jehu was almost such for Johan, but with hazel eyes.

"She gets it from you," Johan said pointedly to Juudai, giving his cone to the brown eyed man. "And you're _still_ impatient, but not as bad as you used to be," he grinned.

"But Jehu worries me, running into things like that," Juudai murmured. "Haoh's the most responsible, but I think that he got that from _you_." He began eating the ice cream. "...We've really done pretty well, haven't we?" Juudai asked, leaning into Johan.

"Yeah, we sure have," Johan said, and the couple shared a passionate kiss.


End file.
